VocabauraVOCABAURA

strike

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To have a sharp or sudden physical effect, as of a blow.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stryk
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstɹaɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To have a sharp or sudden physical effect, as of a blow.

  2. Deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon

  3. intransitive

    To deliver a quick blow or thrust; to give blows.

  4. transitivesometimes with out or through

    To delete or cross out; to scratch or eliminate.

  5. Hit against; come into sudden contact with

  6. transitive

    To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast.

noun

  1. A work stoppage (or otherwise concerted stoppage of an activity) as a form of protest.

  2. A blow or application of physical force against something.

  3. The primary face of a hammer, opposite the peen.

  4. An instrument with a straight edge for levelling a measure of grain, salt, etc., scraping off what is above the level of the top; a strickle.

  5. The discovery of a source of something.

  6. An iron pale or standard in a gate or fence.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To have a sharp or sudden physical effect, as of a blow.

Used this way, strike is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Sudden and forceful
Usage feel
Blunt and forceful

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “strike”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

hunger strike

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • strikingnounInflected form

    The physical coming together of two or more things.

  • strikernounInflected form

    A forward on a soccer team.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • strike downverbCompound term

    Declare null and void.

  • strike dumbverbCompound term

    Render speechless, as by surprising or shocking.

  • strike hardverbCompound term

    Deliver a sharp blow or push.

  • strike homeverbCompound term

    Refer to or be relevant or familiar to.

  • strike leadernounCompound term

    Someone who leads a strike.

  • strike offverbCompound term

    Remove from a list.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to have a sharp or sudden physical effect

tapwalk outexpungerapDatedcome tofallaffectdiscover

noun

Sense: work stoppage (or otherwise concerted stoppage of an activity) as a form of protest

work stoppage

Antonyms

Sense: to have a sharp or sudden physical effect

miss

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “strike” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.