strain every nerve

to try extremely hard to do something I was straining every nerve to catch what they were saying but they were sitting just a bit too far away from me.

strain every nerve

To make every effort.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Sharifah	-	Arabic, Malay
Isiah	ie-ZIE-ə	English
Kendrick	['kendrik]
Celestina	the-le-STEE-nah (Spanish), se-le-STEE-nah (Latin American Spanish), che-le-STEE-nah (Italian)	Spanish, Italian
Livvy	-	English
Cloe	-	Spanish, Italian