straining

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun In saddlery, leather, canvas, or other fabric drawn over a saddle to form a base for the seating.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• a. & n. from strain.
• (Arch.) a short piece of timber in a truss, used to maintain the ends of struts or rafters, and keep them from slipping. See Illust. of Queen-post.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb Present participle of strain.
• noun The act by which one strains.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• adjective taxing to the utmost; testing powers of endurance
• noun an intense or violent exertion
• noun the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean