strike

1 /straIk/ verb past tense and past participle struck /str"k/ THINK/NOTICE

1 (transitive not in progressive) if a thought or idea strikes you, you suddenly realize that it is important, interesting, surprising, bad etc: The funny side of the affair suddenly struck her. | it strikes sb that: It struck Carol that what he'd said about Helen applied to her too. | be struck by: We were struck by the generosity of even the poorest citizens.

—see occur

2 strike sb as sth to seem to have a particular quality or feature: His jokes didn't strike Jack as being very funny. | How did he strike you? (=how did he seem to you?) | it strikes sb as: It strikes me as a great idea. | strike sb as strange/odd/funny etc: It struck me as odd at the time.

3 strike the eye to be particularly noticeable: What strikes your eye at once is her gorgeous red hair.

STOP WORK

4 (I) to deliberately stop working for a time because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc: The police are forbidden to strike. | strike for: We're striking for another two dollars an hour.

HIT

5 (intransitive always + adv/prep, transitive) formal to hit or knock hard against something: strike (sth) against: Then my shovel struck against something metallic. | strike sb/sth on: A snowball struck him on the back of the head. | strike sth: My foot struck a rock. | be struck by sth: The car had been struck by a falling tree.

6 WITH YOUR HAND (T) formal to deliberately hit someone or something hard, especially with your hand: I wouldn't dream of striking a woman. | strike the bass drum | strike sth with: He struck the table with his fist. | strike a blow: The blow was almost certainly struck with the left hand. | strike home (=hit something exactly where you were aiming to hit it): His sword struck home deep into the bull's neck.

7 strike a match/light to light a match by hitting it against a hard surface

LIGHTNING

8 (I, T) when lightning strikes something, it hits and damages it: That old forked tree was once struck by lightning.

ATTACK/HARM

9 (I) to attack quickly and suddenly: When the snake strikes, its mouth opens wide. | Police fear that the killer will strike again. | strike at: This law strikes at the most vulnerable groups in our society. | strike at the heart of: spending cuts that strike at the heart of socialized medicine

10 (I) if something unpleasant strikes, it suddenly happens: Tragedy struck two days later when Tammy was in a serious car accident.

11 (I) to do something that gives you an advantage or harms your opponent in a fight, competition etc: Brazil struck first with a goal in the third minute. | strike the first blow (=gain the first advantage)

12 strike a blow for to do something to help an idea, belief, or organization: It's time we struck a blow for women's rights.

13 strike a blow at to have a harmful effect on people's behaviour or beliefs: This latest research strikes a blow at the foundations of psychiatry.

EXPRESS AN OPINION/FEELING

14 strike a chord to express an opinion or idea that other people agree with or have sympathy with: Powell's angry speech struck a deep chord with his audience.

15 strike a happy/cheerful/cautious etc note to express a particular feeling or attitude: The article struck a conciliatory note. | strike the right note/a discordant note (=express or fail to express what people are feeling): Her speech appeared to strike exactly the right note.

16 strike home if something that you say strikes home, it has exactly the effect on someone that you intended: Anna's criticism of his laziness really struck home.

CLOCKS

17 (I, T) when a clock strikes or strikes one, six etc, its bell sounds a certain number of times to show what the time is: The church clock began to strike twelve. | strike the hour (=strike when it is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock etc)

STRONG FEELINGS

18 strike terror/fear/a chill into sb's heart to make someone feel afraid: The word `cancer' still strikes terror into many hearts.

19 be struck dumb to be unable to speak, usually because you are very surprised: When the Queen shook my hand, I was struck dumb.

FIND

20 strike gold/oil etc to suddenly find gold, oil etc, especially after you have been looking for it: They finally struck gold in 1886.

21 strike it rich/lucky to suddenly make a lot of money or have good luck: With her last book she's really struck it rich.

DO STH

22 strike a balance to give the correct amount of importance or attention to two opposing things: strike the right balance: The speech strikes the right balance between humour and seriousness.

23 strike a bargain/deal to agree to do something if someone else does something for you: The US and China have recently struck a deal over trade.

24 strike while the iron is hot (usually imperative) to do something immediately rather than waiting until a later time when you are less likely to succeed

OTHER MEANINGS

25 LIGHT (T) to fall on a surface: What happens when light strikes a glass lens?

26 be within striking distance to be very close to something or very near to achieving something

27 strike a pose/attitude to stand or sit with your body in a particular position: Eva walked to the middle of the room, turned, and struck a pose with her head to one side.

28 strike sb/sth off/from to remove a name or a thing from a written list: We had to strike him off the short list.

29 TENT/SAIL (T) to take down a tent or sail: strike camp (=take down tents when leaving a camping place)

strike back phrasal verb (I) to attack someone who has attacked you first: The rebels struck back within hours. strike sb down phrasal verb (T)

1 to hit someone so hard that they fall down

2 (usually passive) to make someone die or become seriously ill: Hundreds died that winter, struck down by pneumonia.

strike off phrasal verb be struck off BrE if a doctor, lawyer etc is struck off, their name is removed from the official list of people who are allowed to work as doctors etc strike on/upon sth phrasal verb (T)

1 to discover something or have a good idea about something: At last I've struck on a plan that might work.

2 be struck on BrE informal to think that something is good or well made: I'm not very struck on these chocolates.

strike out phrasal verb

1 NAME (transitive strike something out) to draw a line through something written on a piece of paper

2 WALK/SWIM (intransitive always + adv/prep) to start walking or swimming in a particular direction, especially in a determined way: He decided to follow her, striking out in the same direction.

3 strike out on your/his/their own to start doing something new or living by yourself, without other people's help: Eric left the family business and struck out on his own.

4 NOT SUCCEED (I) informal especially AmE to be unsuccessful at something: “Did she say she'd go out with you?” “No, I struck out.”

5 BASEBALL

a) (I) to be unable to continue trying to hit the ball in baseball, because you have already missed it three times

b) (transitive strike someone out) to put a player out in baseball by making them fail to hit the ball three times

strike up phrasal verb

1 (I, T) to begin playing a piece of music: strike up the band (=tell it to begin playing)

2 strike up a friendship/relationship/conversation to start to become friendly with someone

2 noun (C)

1 STOP WORK a period of time when a group of workers deliberately stop working because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc: miners'/train/electricity etc strike: During the teachers' strike, all the schools were closed. | go on strike/on strike: The Boston police went on strike in 1919. | be (out) on strike: Within half an hour, all the drivers were out on strike. | come out/go out on strike (=start one) | call a strike (=ask people to stop working) | call off a strike (=decide not to continue it) | strike action: The mineworkers were solidly in favour of strike action. | general strike (=involving most workers in the country)

2 hunger/rent strike a time when someone refuses to eat or pay rent as a protest about something: a hunger strike by political prisoners

3 ATTACK a military attack, especially by aircraft dropping bombs

(+ against/on): nuclear strikes on several targets | launch a strike: American aircraft carriers have launched several strikes. —see also: first strike

4 oil strike the discovery of oil under the ground

5 SPORT

a) a situation in bowling (1) in which you knock down all the pins (1) (=bottle shaped objects) with one or two balls

b) an attempt to hit the ball in baseball in which you miss hitting the ball