Definition of: strike

(strīk) v. struck, struck (chiefly Archaic strick·en), strik·ing v.t.
1. To come into violent contact with; hit; crash into: The car struck the wall.
2. To hit with a blow; deal a blow to; smite: It struck him in the face.
3. To deal (a blow, etc.).
4. To cause to hit forcibly: He struck his hand on the table.
5. To attack; assault: We struck the enemy on his left flank.
6. To remove, separate, or take off by or as by a blow: with off, from, etc.: Strike it from the record.
7 a To ignite (a match, etc.). b To produce (a light, etc.) thus.
8. To form by stamping, printing, etc.; impress; coin.
9. To announce; sound: The clock struck two.
10. To fall upon; reach; catch: A sound of crying struck his ear.
11. To arrive at; come upon: to strike a trail.
12. To discover; find: to strike oil.
13. To affect suddenly or in a specified manner: He was struck speechless.
14. To come to the mind of; occur to: An idea strikes me.
15. To impress in a specified manner; seem to: He strikes me as an honest man.
16. To attract the attention of; impress: The dress struck her fancy.
17. To assume; take up: to strike an attitude.
18. To cause to enter or penetrate deeply or suddenly: to strike dismay into one's heart.
19. To lower or haul down; take or let down, as a sail, or a flag in token of surrender.
20. To cease working at in order to compel compliance to a demand, etc.
21. In the theater, to dismantle (a set or scene).
22. To make level (a measure of grain, etc.); strickle.
23. To make and confirm, as a bargain.
24. To harpoon (a whale).
25. To hook (a fish that has taken the lure) by a sharp pull on the line.
26. To arrive at by reckoning: to strike a balance.
—v.i.
27. To come into violent contact; crash; hit.
28. To deal or aim a blow or blows.
29. To make an assault or attack.
30. To sound from a blow or blows.
31. To be indicated by the sound of blows or strokes: Noon has just struck.
32. To ignite.
33. To run aground, as on a reef or shoal: The ship struck and heeled over.
34. To lower a flag in token of surrender or in salute.
35. To come suddenly or unexpectedly; chance: with on or upon: to strike upon an unknown path.
36. To take a course; start and proceed: to strike for home.
37. To move quickly; dart.
38. To cease work in order to enforce demands, etc.
39. To snatch at or swallow the lure: said of fish.
—to strike camp To take down the tents of a camp.
—to strike down
1. To fell with a blow.
2. To affect disastrously; incapacitate completely.
—to strike dumb To astonish; amaze.
—to strike hands To clasp hands, especially in confirming a bargain.
—to strike home
1. To deal an effective blow.
2. To have telling effect.
—to strike it rich
1. To find a valuable vein or pocket of ore.
2. To come into wealth or good fortune.
—to strike off
1. To remove or take off by or as by a blow or stroke.
2. To cross out or erase by or as by a stroke of the pen.
3. To deduct.
—to strike out
1. To strike off (def. 2).
2. To aim a blow or blows.
3. To originate; devise; contrive.
4. To begin; start.
5. In baseball: a To put out (the batter) by pitching three strikes. b To be put out because of taking three strikes.
—to strike up
1. To begin to play, sing, or sound, as a band or musical instrument.
2. To start up; begin, as a friendship.
—noun
1. An act of striking or hitting; a blow.
2. In baseball, an unsuccessful attempt by the batter to hit the ball; a pitched ball that passes over home plate above the level of the batter's knees and below that of his shoulders; a foul bunt; any foul tip held by the catcher; any ball hit foul except when there have been two strikes.
3. In bowling, the knocking down by a player of all the pins with the first bowl in any frame.
4. The quitting of work by a body of workers to enforce some demand.
5. A new or unexpected discovery, as of oil or ore.
6. Any unexpected or complete success.
7. A straight–edged implement for leveling something, as grain in a measure; strickle.
8. Geol. The direction, referred to the meridian, of a horizontal line in a given structural plane, or of the intersection of the structural plane with a horizontal surface.
9. In coining, the quantity of coin or the number of medals made or struck at one time.
10. Full measure; hence, excellence.
11. The act of attempting to obtain money or some valuable thing, as by simple request, or by the introduction of a bill in a legislative body for the purpose of being bought off.
12. The sudden rise and taking of the bait by a fish; a bite.
—general strike Concerted cessation of work on the part of the employees of all or nearly all industries, including public utilities, in a certain town, region, or nation.
—sit–down strike See SIT–DOWN. [OE strīcan stroke, move. Akin to STREAK.]