strike
/straik/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A work stoppage: A collective refusal by employees to work as a protest against working conditions, pay, or other grievances.
- A successful discovery: A sudden, often valuable, find, especially of a mineral resource.
- An attack: A military assault or aggressive action.
- In baseball: A pitch that is swung at and missed, hit foul, or judged to be in the strike zone but not swung at.
- In bowling: The act of knocking down all ten pins with the first ball.
Verb:
- To hit: To deliver a blow or come into forcible contact with something.
- To stop work: To refuse to work as a form of organized protest.
- To discover: To find something, especially unexpectedly or by searching.
- To affect suddenly: To have a sudden, often powerful, effect on someone's mind or emotions.
- To sound: To indicate the time by making a sound, as a clock does.
- To seem: To give a particular impression or appear in a certain way to an observer.
- To light: To produce a flame by friction, as with a match.
- To assume: To take on a specific posture or expression.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- The workers went on strike for better wages.
- The oil company announced a major strike in the North Sea.
- The military prepared for a preemptive strike.
- The pitcher threw three strikes in a row.
- He needed a strike in the final frame to win the game.
Verb:
- He struck the ball with great force.
- The union voted to strike next week.
- They struck gold in the old mine.
- A terrible thought struck her.
- The clock strikes twelve at midnight.
- His proposal strikes me as very reasonable.
- She struck a match to light the candle.
- The model struck a pose for the photographer.
Advanced Usage
"to strike a balance": To find a fair or workable middle point between two opposing things.
- We need to strike a balance between work and personal life.
"to strike a chord": To evoke an emotional response or sense of recognition.
- Her speech about unity struck a chord with the audience.
"to strike while the iron is hot": To take advantage of an opportunity immediately.
- They made the deal quickly, knowing they had to strike while the iron was hot.
"to strike someone as...": To give someone a particular impression.
- He strikes me as a very honest person.
Variants and Related Words
- Striker (n): A worker who is on strike; or, in soccer, a forward player whose main role is to score goals.
- Striking (adj): Attracting attention; very noticeable or impressive.
- She bears a striking resemblance to her mother.
- Stricken (adj, past participle): Deeply affected, as by trouble, illness, or emotion.
- The stricken ship sent out a distress signal.
- He was stricken with grief.
Synonyms
- Hit: To come into contact with forcefully.
- Discover: To find or learn something for the first time.
- Affect: To produce a change or influence.
- Impress: To affect deeply or strongly in mind or feelings.
Related Phrasal Verbs
Strike out:
- To start an independent activity or venture.
- After years with the company, she decided to strike out on her own.
- In baseball, to be called out on strikes.
- The batter struck out swinging.
- To delete text by drawing a line through it.
- He struck out the incorrect sentence.
Strike up:
- To begin playing music.
- The band struck up a cheerful tune.
- To start a conversation or friendship.
- It's easy to strike up a conversation with him.
Strike down:
- To make someone ill or kill them.
- He was stricken down by a sudden fever.
- To declare a law or ruling invalid.
- The Supreme Court struck down the old law.
Related Idioms
Strike it rich: To suddenly gain a lot of money or success.
- They dreamed of moving to the city and striking it rich.
Strike a bargain/deal: To reach an agreement.
- After hours of negotiation, they finally struck a bargain.
Strike a nerve: To upset someone by mentioning a sensitive subject.
- My comment about his past work seemed to strike a nerve.
Strike gold:
- To find something very valuable.
- The researchers believe they have struck gold with this new discovery.
- To have a very successful idea.
- The studio struck gold with their latest animated film.
Noun
- a conspicuous success
- that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career
- that new Broadway show is a real smasher
- the party went with a bang
- (baseball) a pitch that the batter swings at and misses, or that the batter hits into foul territory, or that the batter does not swing at but the umpire judges to be in the area over home plate and between the batter's knees and shoulders
- this pitcher throws more strikes than balls
- a score in tenpins: knocking down all ten with the first ball
- he finished with three strikes in the tenth frame
- a gentle blow
- an attack that is intended to seize or inflict damage on or destroy an objective
- the strike was scheduled to begin at dawn
- a group's refusal to work in protest against low pay or bad work conditions
- the strike lasted more than a month before it was settled
Verb
- arrive at after reckoning, deliberating, and weighing
- strike a balance
- strike a bargain
- pierce with force
- The bullet struck her thigh
- The icy wind struck through our coats
- smooth with a strickle
- strickle the grain in the measure
- form by stamping, punching, or printing
- strike coins
- strike a medal
- occupy or take on
- He assumes the lotus position
- She took her seat on the stage
- We took our seats in the orchestra
- She took up her position behind the tree
- strike a pose
- drive something violently into a location
- he hit his fist on the table
- she struck her head on the low ceiling
- cause to experience suddenly
- Panic struck me
- An interesting idea hit her
- A thought came to me
- The thought struck terror in our minds
- They were struck with fear
- remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
- Please strike this remark from the record
- scratch that remark
- produce by ignition or a blow
- strike fire from the flintstone
- strike a match
- find unexpectedly
- the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb
- she struck a goldmine
- The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake
- cause to form (an electric arc) between electrodes of an arc lamp
- strike an arc
- produce by manipulating keys or strings of musical instruments, also metaphorically
- The pianist strikes a middle C
- strike `z' on the keyboard
- her comments struck a sour note
- attain
- The horse finally struck a pace
- touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly
- Light fell on her face
- The sun shone on the fields
- The light struck the golden necklace
- A strange sound struck my ears
- stop work in order to press demands
- The auto workers are striking for higher wages
- The employees walked out when their demand for better benefits was not met
- affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely
- We were hit by really bad weather
- He was stricken with cancer when he was still a teenager
- The earthquake struck at midnight
- indicate (a certain time) by striking
- The clock struck midnight
- Just when I entered, the clock struck
- make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target
- The Germans struck Poland on Sept. 1, 1939
- We must strike the enemy's oil fields
- in the fifth inning, the Giants struck, sending three runners home to win the game 5 to 2
- hit against; come into sudden contact with
- The car hit a tree
- He struck the table with his elbow
- have an emotional or cognitive impact upon
- This child impressed me as unusually mature
- This behavior struck me as odd
- deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon
- The teacher struck the child
- the opponent refused to strike
- The boxer struck the attacker dead