stroke

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English *stroak, strok, strak, from Old English *strāc (“stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“stroke; to strike”). Cognate with Scots strak, strake, straik (“stroke, blow”), Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”), German Streich (“stroke”).

Alternative forms

  • stroak

Noun

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia stroke (plural strokes)

  1. An act of stroking (moving one's hand over a surface).
    She gave the cat a stroke.
  2. A blow or hit.
    a stroke on the chin
  3. A single movement with a tool.
    1. (golf) A single act of striking at the ball with a club.
    2. (tennis) The hitting of a ball with a racket, or the movement of the racket and arm that produces that impact.
    3. (rowing) The movement of an oar or paddle through water, either the pull which actually propels the vessel or a single entire cycle of movement including the pull.
    4. (cricket) The action of hitting the ball with the bat; a shot.
    5. A thrust of a piston.
  4. A line drawn with a pen or other writing implement.
    1. (hence, UK) The symbol /.
    2. (linguistics) A line of a Chinese, Japanese or Korean character.
  5. The time when a clock strikes.
    on the stroke of midnight
    • 2012 May 9, John Percy, “Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report”, the Telegraph:
      Already guarding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Blackpool inched further ahead when Stephen Dobbie scored from an acute angle on the stroke of half-time. The game appeared to be completely beyond Birmingham’s reach three minutes into the second period when Matt Phillips reacted quickly to bundle the ball past Colin Doyle and off a post.
  6. A particular style of swimming.
    butterfly stroke
  7. (medicine) The loss of brain function arising when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted.
  8. (rowing) The rower who is nearest the stern of the boat.
  9. (professional wrestling) Backstage influence.
  10. (squash (sport)) A point awarded to a player in case of interference or obstruction by the opponent.
  11. (sciences) The current flowing through the ionic channel of a lightning flash. Multiple strokes are common in a single flash.


Synonyms
  • (act of stroking, petting): caress
  • (blow): blow, hit
    • (act of striking with a weapon): blow
  • (single movement with a tool):
    • (in golf):
    • (in tennis):
    • (in rowing):
    • (in cricket): shot
    • (thrust of a piston): push, thrust
  • (made with a pen): stroke of the pen
  • (time when a clock strikes): hour
  • (particular style of swimming):
  • (in medical sense): cerebrovascular accident, CVA
  • (in wrestling):
Derived terms
Terms derived from stroke (noun)
Translations
act of stroking
blow
single movement with a tool
act of striking with a weapon
golf: single act of striking the ball
tennis: single act of striking the ball
rowing: movement of an oar or paddle through water
cricket: shot
thrust of piston
line drawn with a pen or pencil
UK: symbol "/"
streak made with a brush
stroke of a Chinese character
time when a clock strikes
particular style of swimming
loss of brain function arising when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted
in rowing: the rower who is nearest to the stern of the boat
wrestling: backstage influence

Etymology 2

From Middle English stroken, straken, from Old English strācian (“to stroke”), from Proto-Germanic *straikōną (“to stroke, caress”). Cognate with German streicheln (“to stroke, fondle”).

Verb

stroke (third-person singular simple present strokes, present participle stroking, simple past and past participle stroked)

  1. (transitive) To move one's hand or an object (such as a broom) along (a surface) in one direction.
    • Dryden
      He dried the falling drops, and, yet more kind, / He stroked her cheeks.
  2. (transitive, cricket) To hit the ball with the bat in a flowing motion.
  3. (masonry) To give a finely fluted surface to.
  4. (transitive) To row the stroke oar of.
    to stroke a boat
Translations
to move one's hand or an object over the surface of
cricket: to hit the ball with the bat in a flowing motion

See also

Anagrams

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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 23:49