Overstrung

In case such an instrument has "overstrung" wires, it can be restored to a tone that is better than that of the usual upright piano. ❋ Marion Mills Miller (1906)

Ill-fed, suffering from innutrition and the evil effects of overcrowding and squalor, their constitutions develop a morbid craving for the drink, just as the sickly stomach of the overstrung Manchester factory operative hankers after excessive quantities of pickles and similar weird foods. ❋ Unknown (2010)

My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran -- ran as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the skirt of my dress. ❋ Unknown (2010)

I was so overstrung that he merely had to touch me to cause a shiver. ❋ Sarah Micklem (2009)

This intense desire, which made him work so many interests and devise so many springs, absorbed the last strength of his terribly overstrung soul. ❋ Unknown (2007)

It should have helped calm her overstrung nerves, but instead it seemed to be bringing the room into super-focus. ❋ James, Julia (2006)

Her brother was tired and overstrung, but not suppressed. ❋ Unknown (2003)

Had she, perhaps, been a little overstrung in her talk about children like organ pipes? ❋ Unknown (2003)

Whatever the reason for the sudden appearance of this ravishing vision, its effect upon my overstrung nerves was both instantaneous and wrenching. ❋ Harold Schechter (1999)

Sometimes, words meant in the utmost respect were misconstrued by overstrung relatives of the dead and scarcely were the last shovels of earth mounded above the coffin before trouble began. ❋ Margaret Mitchell (1996)

It might have been the poise of the head with its great sheaf of hair, moving against a sky almost as dark, or the erect carriage and balance of her body, or some overstrung cord within his own being that could not but vibrate to her nearness. ❋ Peters, Ellis, 1913-1995 (1986)

I do not pose as the obstinate advocate of parallel stringing, although I believe that, so far, it is the most logical and the best; the best, because the left hand division of the instrument is free from a preponderance of dissonant high partials, and we hear the light and shade, as well as the cantabile of that part, better than by any overstrung scale that I have yet met with. ❋ Various (N/A)