sprain

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

sprain, v. t. [OF. espreindreto press, to force out, F. épreindre, fr. L. exprimere. See Express, v. t., and cf. Spraints.].

 To weaken, as a joint, ligament, or muscle, by sudden and excessive exertion, as by wrenching; to overstrain, or stretch injuriously, but without luxation; as, to sprain one's ankle.  [1913 Webster]

sprain, n. 

 The act or result of spraining; lameness caused by spraining; as, a bad sprain of the wrist.  [1913 Webster]

Sprain fracture (Med.), the separation of a tendon from its point of insertion, with the detachment of a shell of bone to which the tendon is attached.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

sprain, v. & n.
--v.tr. wrench (an ankle, wrist, etc.) violently so as to cause pain and swelling but not dislocation.
--n.
1 such a wrench.
2 the resulting inflammation and swelling.

Etymology

17th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

sprain

abrade, bark, blemish, bloody, break, burn, chafe, check, chip, claw, crack, craze, cut, dislocate, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, gall, gash, hurt, incise, injure, lacerate, maim, make mincemeat of, maul, mutilate, pierce, pull, puncture, rend, rick, rip, run, rupture, savage, scald, scorch, scotch, scrape, scratch, scuff, skin, slash, slit, stab, stick, strain, stretch, tear, throw, traumatize, turn, twist, wound, wrench

ROGET THESAURUS

sprain

Impotence

VB be impotent, not have a leg to stand on, vouloir rompre l'anguille au genou, vouloir prendre la lune avec les dents, collapse, faint, swoon, fall into a swoon, drop, go by the board, go by the wayside, go up in smoke, end in smoke, render powerless, deprive of power, disable, disenable, disarm, incapacitate, disqualify, unfit, invalidate, deaden, cramp, tie the hands, double up, prostrate, paralyze, muzzle, cripple, becripple, maim, lame, hamstring, draw the teeth of, throttle, strangle, garrotte, garrote, ratten, silence, sprain, clip the wings of, put hors de combat, spike the guns, take the wind out of one's sails, scotch the snake, put a spoke in one's wheel, break the neck, break the back, unhinge, unfit, put out of gear, unman, unnerve, enervate, emasculate, castrate, geld, alter, neuter, sterilize, fix, shatter, exhaust, weaken.

Weakness

N weakness, debility, atony, relaxation, languor, enervation, impotence, infirmity, effeminacy, feminality, fragility, flaccidity, inactivity, anaemia, bloodlessness, deficiency of blood, poverty of blood, declension of strength, loss of strength, failure of strength, delicacy, invalidation, decrepitude, asthenia, adynamy, cachexy, cachexia, sprain, strain, reed, thread, rope of sand, house of cards, softling, weakling, infant, youth, weak, feeble, debile, impotent, relaxed, unnerved sapless, strengthless, powerless, weakly, unstrung, flaccid, adynamic, asthenic, nervous, soft, effeminate, feminate, womanly, frail, fragile, shattery, flimsy, unsubstantial, insubstantial, gimcrack, gingerbread, rickety, creaky, creaking, cranky, craichy, drooping, tottering, broken, lame, withered, shattered, shaken, crazy, shaky, palsied, decrepit, languid, poor, infirm, faint, faintish, sickly, dull, slack, evanid, spent, short-winded, effete, weather-beaten, decayed, rotten, worn, seedy, languishing, wasted, washy, laid low, pulled down, the worse for wear, unstrengthened, unsupported, unaided, unassisted, aidless, defenseless, cantilevered (support), on its last legs, weak as a child, weak as a baby, weak as a chicken, weak as a cat, weak as a rat, weak as water, weak as water gruel, weak as gingerbread, weak as milk and water, colorless, non sum qualis eram.

VB be weak, drop, crumble, give way, totter, tremble, shake, halt, limp, fade, languish, decline, flag, fail, have one leg in the grave, render weak, weaken, enfeeble, debilitate, shake, deprive of strength, relax, enervate, eviscerate, unbrace, unnerve, cripple, unman, cramp, reduce, sprain, strain, blunt the edge of, dilute, impoverish, decimate, extenuate, reduce in strength, reduce the strength of, mettre de l'eau dans son vin.