1. v. & n.
--v. (stripped, stripping)
1. tr. (often foll. by of) remove the clothes or covering from (a person or thing).
2 intr. (often foll. by off) undress oneself.
3 tr. (often foll. by of) deprive (a person) of property or titles.
4 tr. leave bare of accessories or fittings.
5 tr. remove bark and branches from (a tree).
6 tr. (often foll. by down) remove the accessory fittings of or take apart (a machine etc.) to inspect or adjust it.
7 tr. milk (a cow) to the last drop.
8 tr. remove the old hair from (a dog).
9 tr. remove the stems from (tobacco).
10 tr. tear the thread from (a screw).
11 tr. tear the teeth from (a gearwheel).
12 tr. remove (paint) or remove paint from (a surface) with solvent.
13 tr. (often foll. by from) pull or tear (a covering or property etc.) off (stripped the masks from their faces).
14 intr. (of a screw) lose its thread.
15 intr. (of a bullet) issue from a rifled gun without spin owing to a loss of surface.
--n.
1. an act of stripping, esp. of undressing in striptease.
2 colloq. the identifying outfit worn by the members of a sports team while playing.
Phrases and idioms:
strip club a club at which striptease performances are given. strip mine US a mine worked by removing the material that overlies the ore etc. strip-search n. a search of a person involving the removal of all clothes.
--v.tr. search in this way.
Etymology: ME f. OE bestriepan plunder f. Gmc 2. n.1 a long narrow piece (a strip of land).
2 a narrow flat bar of iron or steel.
3 (in full strip cartoon) comic strip.
Phrases and idioms:
strip light a tubular fluorescent lamp. strip mill a mill in which steel slabs are rolled into strips. tear a person off a strip colloq. angrily rebuke a person.
Etymology: ME, from or rel. to MLG strippe strap, thong, prob. rel. to STRIPE