I. strike 1 S3 W3 /straɪk/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle struck /strʌk/)
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ strike , ↑ striker ; verb : ↑ strike ; adverb : ↑ strikingly ; adjective : ↑ striking ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: strican 'to touch lightly, go' ]
1 . HIT [transitive] written to hit or fall against the surface of something:
She fell heavily, striking her head against the side of the boat.
A snowball struck him on the back of the head.
Several cars were struck by falling trees.
The last rays of the setting sun struck the windows.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say hit rather than strike :
▪
I hit my head on the shelf.
▪
He was hit by a rock.
2 . HIT WITH HAND/WEAPON ETC [transitive] formal to deliberately hit someone or something with your hand or a weapon:
She struck him hard across the face.
strike something with something
The victim had been struck with some kind of wooden implement.
Paul struck him a blow to the head.
The assassin’s bullet struck home (=hit exactly where it should) .
3 . THOUGHT/IDEA [transitive not in progressive] if something strikes you, you think of it, notice it, or realize that it is important, interesting, true etc:
A rather worrying thought struck me.
The first thing that struck me was the fact that there were no other women present.
it strikes somebody that
It struck her that losing the company might be the least of her worries.
be struck by something
You can’t help being struck by her kindness.
4 . strike somebody as (being) something to seem to have a particular quality or feature:
His jokes didn’t strike Jack as being very funny.
it strikes somebody as strange/odd etc that
It struck me as odd that the man didn’t introduce himself before he spoke.
5 . STOP WORK [intransitive] if a group of workers strike, they stop working as a protest against something relating to their work, for example how much they are paid, bad working conditions etc:
In many countries, the police are forbidden to strike.
strike for
They’re striking for the right to have their trade union recognized in law.
6 . ATTACK [intransitive] to attack someone, especially suddenly:
The killer might strike again.
Guerrillas struck a UN camp, killing 75.
Opponents of the war say that civilian villages have been struck several times.
7 . HARM [intransitive and transitive] to damage or harm someone or something
strike at
The law would strike at the most basic of civil rights.
Such prejudices strike right at the heart of any notions of a civilized society.
strike a blow at/against/to something
The scandal seemed to have struck a mortal blow to the government’s chances of re-election.
8 . SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS [intransitive and transitive] if something bad strikes, it suddenly happens or suddenly begins to affect someone:
The plague struck again for the third time that century.
Everything seemed to be going fine when suddenly disaster struck.
⇨ ↑ stricken
9 . strike a balance (between something) to give the correct amount of importance or attention to two separate things:
He was finding it difficult to strike a balance between his family and his work.
It isn’t always easy to strike the right balance.
10 . strike a bargain/deal to agree to do something for someone if they do something for you:
There are rumors that the president struck a private deal with the corporation’s chairman.
11 . strike a happy/cheerful/cautious etc note to express a particular feeling or attitude:
The article struck a conciliatory note.
Moderate Republicanism appeared to strike exactly the right note with the voters (=be what the people wanted) .
12 . strike a chord to say or do something that other people agree with or have sympathy with
strike a chord with
Their story is bound to strike a chord with all parents.
13 . strike a match to produce a flame from a match by rubbing it hard across a rough surface
14 . strike gold/oil etc
to find a supply of gold, oil etc in the ground or under the sea:
If they strike oil, drilling will begin early next year.
15 . strike gold informal to do something that makes you a lot of money:
Jackie eventually struck gold with her third novel.
16 . LIGHTNING [intransitive and transitive] if ↑ lightning strikes something, it hits and damages it:
The temple burned down after it was struck by lightning last year.
⇨ lightning never strikes twice at ↑ lightning 1
17 . strike a blow for somebody/something to do something to help achieve a principle or aim:
It’s time we struck a blow for women’s rights.
18 . be within striking distance
a) to be close enough to reach a place easily:
By now, they were within striking distance of the shore.
b) to be very close to achieving something:
The French team are within striking distance of the world record.
19 . strike it rich to suddenly make a lot of money
20 . strike it lucky British English to be very lucky, especially when you were not expecting to:
We struck it lucky in Bangkok, where we were told there were some extra seats on the plane that night.
21 . CLOCK [intransitive and transitive] if a clock strikes one, two, six etc, its bell makes a sound once, twice, six times etc according to what time it is:
The church clock began to strike twelve.
strike the hour (=strike when it is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock etc)
22 . GAIN ADVANTAGE [intransitive] to do something that gives you an advantage over your opponent in a fight, competition etc:
Brazil struck first with a goal in the third minute.
23 . strike home if something that you say strikes home, it has exactly the effect on someone that you intended:
She saw the emotion in her father’s face and knew her words had struck home.
24 . strike terror/fear into sb’s heart to make someone feel very frightened:
The word ‘cancer’ still strikes terror into many hearts.
25 . strike a pose/attitude to stand or sit with your body in a particular position:
Malcolm struck his usual pose: hands in pockets, shoulders hunched.
26 . be struck dumb to suddenly be unable to talk, usually because you are very surprised or shocked ⇨ ↑ dumbstruck
27 . be struck with horror/terror/awe etc to suddenly feel very afraid, shocked etc:
As she began to speak to him, she was struck with shyness.
28 . strike while the iron is hot to do something immediately rather than waiting until a later time when you are less likely to succeed
29 . strike somebody dead to kill someone:
May God strike me dead if I’m telling a lie!
strike back phrasal verb
to attack or criticize someone who attacked or criticized you first:
We instruct our staff never to strike back, however angry they feel.
strike back at
The prime minister immediately struck back at his critics.
strike somebody ↔ down phrasal verb
1 . [usually passive] to kill someone or make them extremely ill:
Over 50 nurses at the clinic have been struck down with a mystery virus.
They would rob the bodies of those struck down in battle.
2 . formal to hit someone so hard that they fall down
3 . law to say that a law, decision etc is illegal and officially end it
strike somebody/something ↔ off phrasal verb
1 . be struck off British English 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, lawyers etc
2 . to remove someone or something from a list:
Terri was told to strike off the names of every person older than 30.
strike on/upon something phrasal verb
formal to discover something or have a good idea about something ⇨ be struck on somebody/something at ↑ struck 2
strike out phrasal verb
1 . to attack or criticize someone suddenly or violently
strike out at
Unhappy young people will often strike out at the people closest to them.
2 . strike something ↔ out to draw a line through something written on a piece of paper
3 . [always + adverb/preposition] to start walking or swimming in a particular direction, especially in a determined way:
She struck out for the side of the pool.
4 . strike out on your own to start doing something or living independently
5 . to not hit the ball in baseball three times, so that you are not allowed to continue trying, or to make someone do this
strike somebody ↔ out
He struck out the first batter he faced.
⇨ ↑ strikeout
6 . American English informal to not be successful at something:
‘Did she say she’d go out with you?’ ‘No, I struck out.’
7 . strike something ↔ out law to say officially that something cannot be considered as proof in a court of law
strike up phrasal verb
1 . strike up a friendship/relationship/conversation etc to start to become friendly with someone, to start talking to them, etc:
I struck up a conversation with the girl sitting next to me.
2 . strike up (something) to begin playing a piece of music:
The band struck up a tango.
II. strike 2 S3 W2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ strike , ↑ striker ; verb : ↑ strike ; adverb : ↑ strikingly ; adjective : ↑ striking ]
1 . NOT WORKING [uncountable and countable] a period of time when a group of workers deliberately stop working because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc:
The government has promised that the army will be called in to help if there is a firemen’s strike.
strike by
a six-week strike by railway workers
strike over
a strike over pay cuts
strike against
a national strike against mine closures
2 . ATTACK [countable] a military attack, especially by planes dropping bombs
strike against/on
a surprise air strike on military targets
American aircraft carriers have launched several strikes.
⇨ ↑ first strike
3 . DISCOVERY [countable usually singular] the discovery of something valuable under the ground:
an oil strike
4 . two/three strikes against somebody/something American English a condition or situation that makes it extremely difficult for someone or something to be successful:
Children from poor backgrounds have two strikes against them by the time they begin school.
5 . BASEBALL [countable] an attempt to hit the ball in baseball that fails, or a ball that is thrown to the ↑ batter in the correct area but is not hit
6 . BOWLING [countable] a situation in ↑ bowling in which you knock down all the ↑ pin s (=bottle-shaped objects) with a ball on your first attempt
⇨ ↑ hunger strike , ↑ lightning strike
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ be (out) on strike
Teachers are on strike again this week.
▪ go on strike/come out on strike (=start a strike)
An estimated 70,000 public sector workers went on strike.
▪ begin a strike
Dock workers began a 24-hour strike last night.
▪ call a strike (=tell people to strike)
The union threatened to call a strike.
▪ stage a strike (=organize a short strike)
Health workers will stage a two-day strike next week.
▪ end/call off a strike (=decide not to continue with it)
The strike was called off two days later.
▪ break a strike (=force workers to end it)
Attempts to break the strike failed.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + strike
▪ a one-day/two-week etc strike
A three-day strike is planned for next week.
▪ an indefinite strike (=with no end planned)
Workers at the processing plant have begun an indefinite strike.
▪ a long strike
Most teachers wouldn’t be in favour of a long strike.
▪ a general strike (=when workers from most industries strike)
They threatened to call a general strike.
▪ a national/nationwide strike (=all over the country)
In April 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers called a national strike.
▪ an all-out strike British English (=when all the workers in a factory, industry etc strike)
The dockers voted for an all-out strike.
▪ a rail/coal/postal etc strike (=affecting the rail/coal etc industry)
A rail strike would cause enormous public inconvenience.
▪ a miners’/teachers’/pilots’ etc strike (=by miners, teachers etc)
The transport workers’ strike inflicted serious damage on the economy.
▪ an unofficial strike (=not organized by a trade union)
Some workers had been sacked for taking part in unofficial strikes.
▪ a wildcat strike (=without any warning)
Legislation to curb wildcat strikes will be introduced during the coming parliamentary session.
▪ an all-out strike (=in which all the workers have stopped working completely)
The company faces an all-out strike next month.
▪ a bitter strike (=with angry feelings between workers and managers)
The miners finally returned to work at the end of a long, bitter strike.
▪ a damaging/crippling strike (=having a bad effect on an industry)
The company now faces the prospect of a crippling strike.
■ strike + NOUN
▪ strike action (=a strike)
Hospital workers have voted in favour of strike action.
▪ a strike call (=when a group asks people to strike)
The ANC estimated that more than 4,000,000 people heeded its strike call.
▪ a strike ballot British English (=when workers vote on whether to strike)
The union is going to hold a strike ballot.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' go on a strike '. Say go on strike .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ strike [countable] a period of time when a group of workers stop working because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc:
A teachers’ strike has been announced for next week.
|
The rail strike has resulted in major delays on roads across the country.
▪ industrial action [uncountable] British English activities such as strikes, or doing less work than usual, as a way of trying to persuade an employer to improve pay, conditions etc:
Lecturers voted to take industrial action over their workload.
|
Prison officers have threatened industrial action.
▪ stoppage [countable] British English , work stoppage American English a short strike, especially one that lasts for one day:
Customs officers will return to work today after a twenty-four hour stoppage.
▪ go-slow [countable] British English a period of time when a group of workers deliberately work more slowly than usual as a way of protesting about pay, conditions etc:
The hospital go-slow comes into effect tomorrow.
|
The union carried out strikes and go-slows in support of a wage claim.