to strain courtesy
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To stand upon ceremony. Here, strain is to stretch, as parchment is strained on a drum-head.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to strain courtesy” mean?
To stand upon ceremony. Here, strain is to stretch, as parchment is strained on a drum-head.
Is “to strain courtesy” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.