I.
noun
1 of a brush, pen, etc.
ADJECTIVE
▪ long , short
▪ broad ( often figurative ), thick
▪
I will outline in broad ~s our main ideas.
▪ narrow , thin
▪ bold , vigorous
▪
She caught his likeness with a few bold pen ~s.
▪ even
▪ deft
▪ quick , slow
▪ downward , upward
▪ horizontal , vertical
▪ brush (usually brushstroke ) , pen , pencil
PHRASES
▪ with a ~ of the pen
▪
With a ~ of the pen our names were removed from the register.
2 in sports
ADJECTIVE
▪ fast , quick
▪ slow , smooth
▪ powerful
▪
The Romanian rowers pulled ahead with powerful ~s.
▪ backhand , forehand (in tennis, etc.)
▪ downward , upward
VERB + STROKE
▪ play
▪
He played some powerful backhand ~s throughout the game.
PREPOSITION
▪ by a ~, two ~s, etc. (in golf)
▪
Woods leads by two ~s.
PHRASES
▪ a ~, two ~s, etc. ahead , a ~, two ~s, etc. behind (in golf)
3 in swimming
ADJECTIVE
▪ swim ( AmE ), swimming
▪ long , short
▪
He swam back with long, slow ~s.
▪ fast , slow
▪ powerful , strong
VERB + STROKE
▪ do , swim
▪
You can't swim more than four ~s before you reach the other side.
4 sudden illness of the brain
ADJECTIVE
▪ acute , crippling , debilitating , disabling ( esp. BrE ), massive , serious
▪ mild , minor , slight
▪ fatal , non-fatal
▪ recurrent
▪
This regimen substantially reduces the risks of recurrent ~.
VERB + STROKE
▪ have , suffer
▪
She had a massive ~ and lost her speech.
STROKE + VERB
▪ leave sb …
▪
The ~ left him in a wheelchair.
STROKE + NOUN
▪ patient , survivor , victim
▪ prevention
5 sth that happens unexpectedly
ADJECTIVE
▪ sudden
▪
I had a sudden ~ of inspiration.
VERB + STROKE
▪ have
PREPOSITION
▪ at a ~ , at one ~
▪
They lost half their fortune at a ~.
▪ ~ of
▪
a ~ of genius
PHRASES
▪ a ~ of bad luck , a ~ of fortune , a ~ of good fortune , a ~ of good luck , a ~ of luck
◆◆◆
NOTE: Swimming strokes
▪ do (the) … , swim (the) …
▪
a swimmer doing the crawl
▪
I can't swim butterfly.
▪ strike out in/with …
▪
She struck out for the shore with a strong crawl.
▪ a lap of … ( AmE ), a length of …
▪
He did 15 lengths of backstroke every morning.
▪ 100 metres/meters … , 200 metres/meters … , etc.
▪
the 100 metres/meters butterfly
▪ men's … , women's …
▪
the women's freestyle
▪ compete in … , take part in … ( esp. BrE )
▪
They're competing in the breaststroke.
▪ in the …
▪
He came first in the 200 metres/meters backstroke.
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ gently , lightly , slowly , softly , tenderly
▪ thoughtfully
▪
He ~d his beard thoughtfully.
▪ absently , absent-mindedly , idly
▪
She ~d his hair absently.
▪ away , back (both esp. BrE )
▪
She gently ~d away his tears.
▪
He ~d back his hair.
Stroke is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ hand
Stroke is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ back , ↑ beard , ↑ cat , ↑ cheek , ↑ chin , ↑ dog , ↑ ego , ↑ hair , ↑ key , ↑ mane , ↑ moustache , ↑ penis