stroke
UK /stɹəʊk/ · US /stɹoʊk/ noun, verb
Also a form of strike
Forms strokes stroking stroked strokest strokedst stroketh stroak
- noun An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. “a stroke on the chin”
- noun An act of striking with a weapon; a blow. “Singapore plans to cane scammers and scam mules, with mandatory caning of at least six strokes for scammers and discretionary caning for mules.”
- noun A single movement with a tool; also, an impact of a tool on an object.
- noun The hitting of a bell or similar by the clapper or hammer of a clock; the sound thereof; the time when this occurs. “on the stroke of midnight”
- noun (cricket) The action of hitting the ball with the bat; a shot.
- noun (golf) A single act of striking at the ball with a club; also, at matchplay, a shot deducted from a player's score at a hole as a result of a handicapping system.
- noun (squash) A point awarded to a player in case of interference or obstruction by the opponent.
- noun (tennis) The hitting of a ball with a racket; also, the movement of the racket and arm that produces that impact.
- verb To draw the horizontal line across the upright part (of the letter t).
- verb Followed by out or through: to draw a line or lines through (text) to indicate that it is deleted; to cancel, to strike or strike out.
- verb (poetic, rare) Of a bell or clock: to chime or sound to indicate (the hour, the time, etc.).
- verb (rare) To mark (something) with lines or stripes; to stripe.
- verb (ball games) To hit or kick (the ball) with a flowing or smooth motion; also, to score (a goal, a point, etc.) by doing so.
- verb Of a rower or a crew: to row at (a rate of a certain number of strokes (“movements of the oar through water”) per minute).
- verb To act as the stroke (“rower who is nearest the stern of the boat, the movement of whose oar sets the rowing rhythm for the other rowers”) of (a boat or its crew). “to stroke a boat”
- verb (swimming) To strike (the water) with one's arms and legs when swimming.
- verb To move one's hand or an object (such as a broom or brush) along (a surface) in one direction, touching it lightly; to caress.
- verb (by extension, vulgar, uncommon, intransitive) To masturbate.
- verb (also figuratively) To bring (something) to a certain condition by stroking (sense 1).
- verb (especially psychoanalysis) To give assurance to (someone) through encouragement.
Synonyms
beat dash pulsation masterstroke cerebrovascular accident CVA beat off rub one out abuse bash one out bate beat it crank one out fap frig goon jack off jack it jerk jerk it shot throw cam stroke apoplexy stroking accident fortuity chance event solidus slash
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”).
Sense 3.5.2.2 (“the oblique, slash, or virgule (‘/’)”) is a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique which was originally used in telegraphy.
The verb is derived from the noun.
* German Streich (“stroke”)
* Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”)
* Scots strak, strake, straik (“blow, stroke”)
The verb is derived from Middle English stroken, straken (“to caress, fondle, pat, rub, smooth, stroke; to pass something over (someone or something); to brush or rub against;”) [and other forms], from Old English strācian (“to stroke”), from Proto-West Germanic *straikōn (“to caress, stroke”), from *straik (“a line, stroke; a dash”) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōn (suffix forming verbs from nouns).
The noun is derived from the verb.
* German streicheln (“to stroke, fondle”)
* German Low German straken, strieken, strakeln, striekeln (“to stroke; caress; fondle”)
* Middle Low German strēken, Middle Dutch strēken (modern Dutch streeken)
* Old High German strīhhan, streihhōn, Middle High German strīchen (modern German streichen (“to stroke; to rub; to spread; to apply; to paint; to cancel; to cross out, strike out; to delete; to discard”))
* Saterland Frisian strookje (“to stroke; caress”)
* West Frisian streakje (“to stroke; caress”)
Webster’s 1913
- Struck.
- noun The act of striking; a blow; a hit; a knock; esp., a violent or hostile attack made with the arm or hand, or with an instrument or weapon.
- noun The result of effect of a striking; injury or affliction; soreness.
- verb To strike. [Obs.]
Etymology [OE. strok, strook, strak, fr. striken. See Strike, v. t.]
Etymology [OE. stroken, straken, AS. stracian, fr. strican to go over, pass. See Strike, v. t., and cf. Straggle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stroke”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details