Streak

How to spell streak

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce streak

What does streak mean?

1. nounA long, thin line or band of a different colour or texture from its surroundings.
2. nounA continuous series of similar events or a noticeable element of someone's character.
3. verbTo move very quickly in a straight line.

Streak in a sentence

• noun

  A grey streak ran through her dark hair.

• noun

  The team ended the season on a five-game winning streak.

• verb

  The children watched the comet streak across the night sky.

• noun

  The cleaner left a streak of polish across the window.

• noun

  He has a stubborn streak that makes negotiation difficult.

• verb

  She would streak down the corridor whenever the bell rang.

Where does streak come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English strica, meaning a line, a stroke, or a small mark drawn across a surface. That noun belonged to the same Germanic family as strican, 'to strike or to stroke', so a streak was originally simply the trace left by a stroke of a tool, a finger, or a brush. Related forms survive in Dutch streek and German Strich, both meaning a line or stretch, which shows how old and widespread the root is. By the 1500s English had extended the sense from a physical line to a 'streak of light' such as lightning, and from there to a 'streak of luck' or a run of similar events. The lively verb meaning 'to run naked in public' is a much later and playful invention, recorded in the early 1970s, built on the older verb sense of dashing along in a single rapid line. The spelling keeps the 'ea' vowel of strican's relatives, which is the main thing to watch, since the sound is a plain long 'ee'.

How the word is built

• streak (from Old English strica: a line or stroke, related to strican 'to strike, stroke')