(~s, stroking, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ someone or something, you move your hand slowly and gently over them.
Carla, curled up on the sofa, was smoking a cigarette and stroking her cat...
She walked forward and embraced him and ~d his tousled white hair.
VERB: V n, V n
2.
If someone has a ~, a blood vessel in their brain bursts or becomes blocked, which may kill them or make them unable to move one side of their body.
He had a minor ~ in 1987, which left him partly paralysed.
N-COUNT: usu sing
3.
The ~s of a pen or brush are the movements or marks that you make with it when you are writing or painting.
Fill in gaps by using short, upward ~s of the pencil.
N-COUNT: usu pl
4.
When you are swimming or rowing, your ~s are the repeated movements that you make with your arms or the oars.
I turned and swam a few ~s further out to sea...
N-COUNT: usu pl
5.
A swimming ~ is a particular style or method of swimming.
She spent hours practising the breast ~.
N-COUNT: usu sing, supp N
6.
The ~s of a clock are the sounds that indicate each hour.
On the ~ of 12, fireworks suddenly exploded into the night.
N-COUNT
7.
In sports such as tennis, baseball, cricket, and golf, a ~ is the action of hitting the ball.
Compton was sending the ball here, there, and everywhere with each ~.
N-COUNT
8.
A ~ of luck or good fortune is something lucky that happens.
It didn’t rain, which turned out to be a ~ of luck.
N-SING: a N of n
9.
A ~ of genius or inspiration is a very good idea that someone suddenly has.
At the time, his appointment seemed a ~ of genius.
N-SING: a N of n
10.
If something happens at a ~ or in one ~, it happens suddenly and completely because of one single action.
The disease wiped out 40 million rabbits at a ~...
How can Britain reduce its prison population in one ~?
PHRASE: PHR after v
11.
If someone does not do a ~ of work, they are very lazy and do no work at all. (INFORMAL)
I never did a ~ of work at college.
PHRASE: with brd-neg, V inflects emphasis