from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Strike \Strike\, v. t. [imp. {Struck}; p. p. {Struck},
{Stricken}({Stroock}, {Strucken}, Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n.
{Striking}. Struck is more commonly used in the p. p. than
stricken.] [OE. striken to strike, proceed, flow, AS.
str[imac]can to go, proceed, akin to D. strijken to rub,
stroke, strike, to move, go, G. streichen, OHG.
str[imac]hhan, L. stringere to touch lightly, to graze, to
strip off (but perhaps not to L. stringere in sense to draw
tight), striga a row, a furrow. Cf. {Streak}, {Stroke}.]
1. To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or
with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either
with the hand or with any instrument or missile.
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He at Philippi kept
His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck
The lean and wrinkled Cassius. --Shak.
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2. To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet
struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship
struck a reef.
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3. To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a
force to; to dash; to cast.
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They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the
two sideposts. --Ex. xii. 7.
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Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.
--Byron.
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4. To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike
coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint.
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5. To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in
the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep.
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6. To punish; to afflict; to smite.
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To punish the just is not good, nor strike princes
for equity. --Prov. xvii.
26.
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7. To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or
notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve;
the drums strike up a march.
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8. To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike
sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of
surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to
strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch.
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9. To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect
sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind,
with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or
horror.
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Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the
first view. --Atterbury.
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They please as beauties, here as wonders strike.
--Pope.
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10. To affect in some particular manner by a sudden
impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me
favorably; to strike one dead or blind.
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How often has stricken you dumb with his irony!
--Landor.
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11. To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a
stroke; as, to strike a light.
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Waving wide her myrtle wand,
She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.
--Milton.
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12. To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match.
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13. To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain.
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Note: Probably borrowed from the L. foedus ferrire, to strike
a compact, so called because an animal was struck and
killed as a sacrifice on such occasions.
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14. To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money.
[Old Slang]
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15. To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by
scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the
level of the top.
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16. (Masonry) To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the
face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.
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17. To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a
strange word; they soon struck the trail.
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18. To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck
a friend for five dollars. [Slang]
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19. To lade into a cooler, as a liquor. --B. Edwards.
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20. To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.
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Behold, I thought, He will . . . strike his hand
over the place, and recover the leper. --2 Kings v.
11.
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21. To advance; to cause to go forward; -- used only in past
participle. "Well struck in years." --Shak.
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{To strike an attitude}, {To strike a balance}. See under
{Attitude}, and {Balance}.
{To strike a jury} (Law), to constitute a special jury
ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain
number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so as to
reduce it to the number of persons required by law.
--Burrill.
{To strike a lead}.
(a) (Mining) To find a vein of ore.
(b) Fig.: To find a way to fortune. [Colloq.]
{To strike a ledger} or {To strike an account}, to balance
it.
{To strike hands with}.
(a) To shake hands with. --Halliwell.
(b) To make a compact or agreement with; to agree with.
{To strike off}.
(a) To erase from an account; to deduct; as, to strike
off the interest of a debt.
(b) (Print.) To impress; to print; as, to strike off a
thousand copies of a book.
(c) To separate by a blow or any sudden action; as, to
strike off what is superfluous or corrupt.
{To strike oil}, to find petroleum when boring for it;
figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang,
U.S.]
{To strike one luck}, to shake hands with one and wish good
luck. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
{To strike out}.
(a) To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike
out sparks with steel.
(b) To blot out; to efface; to erase. "To methodize is as
necessary as to strike out." --Pope.
(c) To form by a quick effort; to devise; to invent; to
contrive, as, to strike out a new plan of finance.
(d) (Baseball) To cause a player to strike out; -- said
of the pitcher. See {To strike out}, under {Strike},
v. i.
{To strike sail}. See under {Sail}.
{To strike up}.
(a) To cause to sound; to begin to beat. "Strike up the
drums." --Shak.
(b) To begin to sing or play; as, to strike up a tune.
(c) To raise (as sheet metal), in making diahes, pans,
etc., by blows or pressure in a die.
{To strike work}, to quit work; to go on a strike.
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