STRIKE

I. verb (struck; struck; also stricken; striking) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English strīcan to stroke, go; akin to Old High German strīhhan to stroke, Latin stringere to touch lightly, striga, stria furrow Date: before 12th century intransitive verb to take a course ; go , 2. to aim and usually deliver a blow, stroke, or thrust (as with the hand, a weapon, or a tool), to arrive with detrimental effect , to attempt to undermine or harm something as if by a blow , to come into contact forcefully , to delete something, to lower a flag usually in surrender, 6. to become indicated by a clock, bell, or chime , to make known the time by sounding , pierce , penetrate , 8. to engage in battle, to make a military attack, to become ignited , to discover something , 11. to pull on a fishing rod in order to set the hook, to seize the bait, dart , shoot , 13. to take root, germinate , to make an impression, to stop work in order to force an employer to comply with demands, to make a beginning , to thrust oneself forward , to work diligently ; strive , transitive verb 1. to ~ at ; hit , to drive or remove by or as if by a blow, to attack or seize with a sharp blow (as of fangs or claws) , inflict , to produce by or as if by a blow or stroke , to separate by a sharp blow , 2. to haul down ; lower , to dismantle and take away , to ~ the tents of (a camp), to afflict suddenly , 4. to engage in (a battle) ; fight , to make a military attack on, delete , cancel , 6. to penetrate painfully ; pierce , to cause to penetrate , to send down or out , 7. to level (as a measure of grain) by scraping off what is above the rim, to smooth or form (as a mold) with a tool, to indicate by sounding , 9. a. to bring into forceful contact , to shake (hands) in confirming an agreement, to thrust suddenly, to come into contact or collision with , to fall on, to become audible to, 10. to affect with a mental or emotional state or a strong emotion , to affect a person with (a strong emotion) , to cause to become by or as if by a sudden blow , 11. to produce by stamping , b. to produce (as fire) by or as if by striking, to cause to ignite by friction , to make and ratify the terms of , 13. to play or produce by stroking keys or strings , to produce as if by playing an instrument , 14. to hook (a fish) by a sharp pull on the line, to snatch at (a bait), 15. to occur to , to appear to especially as a revelation or as remarkable ; impress , bewitch , to arrive at by or as if by computation , 18. to come to ; attain , to come upon ; discover , to engage in a ~ against (an employer), take on , assume , 21. to place (a plant cutting) in a medium for growth and rooting, to so propagate (a plant), to make one's way along , to cause (an arc) to form (as between electrodes of an arc lamp), to oviposit on or in, see: affect II. noun Date: 15th century a tool for smoothing a surface (as of a mold), an act or instance of striking, 3. a work stoppage by a body of workers to enforce compliance with demands made on an employer, a temporary stoppage of activities in protest against an act or condition, the direction of the line of intersection of a horizontal plane with an uptilted geological stratum, 5. a pull on a fishing rod to ~ a fish, a pull on a line by a fish in striking, a stroke of good luck, 7. a pitched ball that is in the ~ zone or is swung at and is not hit fair, a perfectly thrown ball or pass, disadvantage , handicap , an act or instance of knocking down all the bowling pins with the first bowl, establishment of roots and plant growth, cutaneous myiasis (as of sheep), 12. a military attack, a group of airplanes taking part in such an attack