misstrike
English
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editmisstrike (third-person singular simple present misstrikes, present participle misstriking, simple past misstruck, past participle misstruck or (uncommon) misstricken)
- (transitive) To strike badly or incorrectly.
- 1865, William Cosmo Monkhouse, “Sonnet: Chance and Genius”, in A Dream of Idleness, and Other Poems[1], London: Edward Moxon, page 160:
- To the musician oft a mis-struck note
Suggests a brighter strain of harmony;
- 2004, Peter Berkowitz, chapter 6, in Varieties of Conservatism in America[2], Stanford: CA: Hoover Institution Press, page 157:
- […] scrupulous attention had to be paid to the reality of the here and now lest liberalism misstrike the balance between the desire for freedom and the desire for equality […]
Noun
editmisstrike (plural misstrikes)
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- An instance of striking something badly or incorrectly, a misstroke
- 1892, W. David Tomlin, “The Pike”, in American Game Fishes[3], Chicago: Rand, McNally, page 379:
- Many anglers use a Salmon-gaff for handling Pike. They are splendid things in a boat where only two men who know how to use them are fishing. In the hands of many ordinary men you lose more fish by mis-strikes than you can catch with them.
- 2007, Joyce Carol Oates, The Gravedigger’s Daughter[4], New York: Ecco, Part 2, Chapter 11, p. 402:
- Stony-faced Zacharias Jones drummed his fingers on his desk top lost in a trance of invisible notes, chords. […] So vividly did he hear the notes in his head, he always heard a misstrike. When he made a mistake, he was obliged to return to the very beginning of the exercise and start over.
- (numismatics) A coin or medal with an irregularity, defect or error.
- Synonyms: error, error piece
- 1974, Brad Mills, chapter 16, in The Official Guide to Coin Collecting[5], New York: House of Collectibles, page 112:
- How much should an odd or unusual coin vary from the ordinary run to merit recognition as a misstrike or genuine accidental variety? […] Although die breaks are not considered by many as true oddities, other collectors are inclined to include them as freaks or errors belonging to the misstrike family.