Strike

How to spell strike

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce strike

What does strike mean?

1. verbTo deliver a blow to someone or something, or to come forcefully into contact with it.
2. nounAn organised refusal by workers to do their jobs until demands are met.
3. verbTo suddenly find or reach a valuable resource such as oil or gold.

Strike in a sentence

• verb

  The boxer aimed to strike his opponent on the jaw.

• noun

  The rail union called a one-day strike over pay.

• verb

  The prospectors hoped to strike gold in the hills.

• verb

  Lightning can strike the tallest building in a storm.

• noun

  The factory ground to a halt during the strike.

• verb

  Drilling crews can strike oil after months of searching.

Where does strike come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Strike comes from the Old English verb strican, which originally meant to stroke, to rub, or to move smoothly along, and it is closely related to the German word streichen with the same gentle sense. For centuries the word carried that softer meaning of passing the hand over something, which survives in relatives like 'stroke' and 'streak'. The harder modern sense of dealing a blow grew up gradually during the medieval period, perhaps from the idea of a hand or tool sweeping forcefully across a surface. By the time of Middle English it had taken on the meaning of hitting, and from there it branched into a remarkable range of uses, from striking a coin to striking a match to workers downing tools. The industrial sense of a labour stoppage appeared in the 1700s, said to come from sailors who 'struck', meaning lowered, the sails of a ship to halt work. The spelling stays simple and phonetic, which is why the trap is mostly in the past tense 'struck' rather than the base form itself.

How the word is built

• strike (from Old English strican: to stroke, move, rub)