Definition

1. Intransitive Verb:

   • To begin a new and independent course of action or endeavor, often leaving a previous situation.
   • In baseball, to be called out after accumulating three strikes, or to cause a batter to be out in this way.
   • To be completely unsuccessful; to fail.

2. Transitive Verb:

   • In baseball, to cause a batter to be out by pitching three strikes.
   • To draw a line through written text to delete or cancel it.
   • To eliminate or remove something from a list or record.

Examples of Usage

• Intransitive Verb:

  • After years working for the company, she decided to strike out as an independent consultant.
  • The pitcher struck out with a powerful fastball.
  • Our proposal struck out with the review committee; they rejected all our ideas.

• Transitive Verb:

  • The ace pitcher struck out twelve batters in the game.
  • Please strike out the incorrect information and write the update clearly.
  • They struck his name out from the guest list after he cancelled.

Advanced Usage

• "to strike out on one's own": To start an independent venture or life, separate from previous support (e.g., family, a company).

  • He left home at eighteen to strike out on his own in the city.

• "to strike out at someone/something": To lash out verbally or physically; to attack or criticize fiercely.

  • Frustrated by the accusations, he struck out at his critics during the press conference.

Variants and Related Words

• Strikeout (noun): In baseball, the act of putting a batter out with three strikes, or the scorecard notation for this event.

  • The pitcher ended the inning with a strikeout.

• Stricken (adjective, past participle of 'strike'): Deeply affected, as by trouble or strong emotion. (Note: This is a distinct meaning from 'strike out'.)

  • She was stricken with grief.

Synonyms

• Begin/Commence: To start (a new venture).
• Fail/Flop: To be unsuccessful.
• Delete/Cross out: To remove text by drawing a line through it.
• Fan (slang, baseball): To strike out a batter.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Strike off: Similar to 'strike out' in the sense of removing from a list; also can mean to begin a journey.

  • The judge ordered his name to be struck off the register.
  • They struck off down the trail at dawn.

• Strike through: To draw a line through text; synonymous with the deletion sense of 'strike out'.

  • Use the editor's tool to strike through the old paragraph.

Related Idioms

• "Three strikes and you're out": An idiom originating from baseball, now commonly used in law and policy to mean that after three offenses, severe penalties apply.

  • The state has a "three strikes and you're out" law for repeat felony offenders.

• "Go down swinging": To fail while making a maximum effort. This is related to the baseball imagery of 'strike out', where a batter can strike out by swinging at and missing the third strike.

  • We may not win the contract, but we'll go down swinging.

Verb

1. set out on a course of action
   • He struck out on his own
2. cause to get out
   • The pitcher retired three batters
   • the runner was put out at third base
3. make a motion as with one's fist or foot towards an object or away from one's body
4. be unsuccessful in an endeavor
   • The candidate struck out with his health care plan
5. put out or be put out by a strikeout
   • Oral struck out three batters to close the inning
6. remove from a list
   • Cross the name of the dead person off the list