Emphasised being subjected to a strain (8)
I believe the answer is:
stressed
'emphasised' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'being subjected to a strain' is the wordplay.
'being subjected' becomes 'ed' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'a strain' becomes 'stress' ('stress' can be a synonym of 'strain').
'ed' after 'stress' is 'STRESSED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stressed that I've seen before include "Singled out as important" , "anxious" , "Physically or mentally overexerted" , "overwrought" , "Flustery" .)