Word.ws English Dictionary

straining at a gnat

straining at a gnat is the present participle and gerund of strain at a gnat.

Meaning of strain at a gnat

Verb

strain at a gnat (third-person singular simple present strains at a gnat, present participle straining at a gnat, simple past and past participle strained at a gnat)

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic) to make a mountain out of a molehill

Questions about straining at a gnat

What is straining at a gnat the present participle and gerund of?
Straining at a gnat is the present participle and gerund of strain at a gnat.

Words near straining at a gnat in the dictionary

  1. strainest
  2. straineth
  3. strainful
  4. straining
  5. straining a point
  6. straining at a gnat
  7. straining at the leash
  8. straining beam
  9. straining beams
  10. straining courtesy
  11. straining every nerve

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: straining at a gnat (page history and authors); strain at a gnat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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