After two and a half weeks he began to break down under the strain.
The thing was very heavy, and he thought his back would break under the strain.
Under the strain his health gave way and he died in December 1643.
The idea here is not to win but to test his body and see whether it will hold up under the strain of competition.
The sites appeared to be holding up under the strain.
I did that for two months, until my eyes finally gave out under the strain.
My back screamed under the strain of standing off balance.
What if he broke down under the strain and confessed?
Then again, perhaps he had gone insane and broken under the strain.
My arms were beginning to ache under the strain of holding him.