English
stroke
Pronunciation Noun

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
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Deuteronomy 19:5 ↗:
      His hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree.
    • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: Printed by W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, OCLC 1086746628 ↗:
      He likewise entered and won in effect the whole kingdom of Naples itself, without striking stroke.
  3. A single movement with a tool.
    1. (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.
    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 as of a piston or of the penis during sexual intercourse.
    6. An act of striking with a weapon
  4. One of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished.
    the stroke of a bird's wing in flying, or of an oar in rowing
    the stroke of a skater, swimmer, etc.
  5. A powerful or sudden effort by which something is done, produced, or accomplished; also, something done or accomplished by such an effort.
    a stroke of genius; a stroke of business; a master stroke of policy
  6. A line drawn with a pen or other writing implement, particularly:
    1. (UK, typography) The slash, /.
    2. (Unicode, typography) The formal name of the individual horizontal strikethroughs (as in A̶ and A̵).
    3. (linguistics) A line of a Chinese, Japanese or Korean character.
  7. A streak made with a brush.
  8. The time when a clock strikes.
    on the stroke of midnight
  9. (swimming) A style, a single movement within a style.
    butterfly stroke
  10. (medicine) The loss of brain function arising when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted.
  11. (obsolete) A sudden attack of any disease, especially when fatal; any sudden, severe affliction or calamity.
    a stroke of apoplexy; the stroke of death
    • At this one stroke the man looked dead in law.
  12. (rowing) The oar nearest the stern of a boat, by which the other oars are guided.
  13. (rowing) The rower who is nearest the stern of the boat.
  14. (professional wrestling) Backstage influence.
  15. (squash) A point awarded to a player in case of interference or obstruction by the opponent.
  16. (sciences) An individual discharge of lightning.
    A flash of lightning may be made up of several strokes. If they are separated by enough time for the eye to distinguish them, the lightning will appear to flicker.
  17. (obsolete) The result or effect of a striking; injury or affliction; soreness.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Isaiah 30:26 ↗:
      in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound
  18. An addition or amendment to a written composition; a touch.
    to give some finishing strokes to an essay
  19. A throb or beat, as of the heart.
  20. Power; influence.
    • (More's Utopia)
      where money beareth all the stroke
    • He has a great stroke with the reader.
  21. (obsolete) Appetite.
  22. In transactional analysis, a (generally positive) reaction to a person, fulfilling their needs or desires.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: Schlag
  • Italian: battuta
  • Portuguese: raquetada
  • Russian: уда́р
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: Schlag
  • Italian: rintocco
  • Portuguese: badalada
  • Russian: уда́р
Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

stroke (strokes, present participle stroking; 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.
    • 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, rowing) To row the stroke oar of.
    to stroke a boat
Translations

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