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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

stroke.

An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/stɹəʊk/Received-Pronunciation/stɹoʊk/General-American/stɹʌok//stɾʌok/
  1. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.

    a stroke on the chin
  2. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. An act of striking with a weapon; a blow.

    Singapore plans to cane scammers and scam mules, with mandatory caning of at least six strokes for scammers and discretionary caning for mules.
  3. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. A single movement with a tool; also, an impact of a tool on an object.

  4. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. The hitting of a bell or similar by the clapper or hammer of a clock; the sound thereof; the time when this occurs.

    on the stroke of midnight
  5. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. An act of hitting or trying to hit a ball; also, the manner in which this is done. The action of hitting the ball with the bat; a shot.

  6. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. An act of hitting or trying to hit a ball; also, the manner in which this is done. 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.

  7. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. An act of hitting or trying to hit a ball; also, the manner in which this is done. A point awarded to a player in case of interference or obstruction by the opponent.

  8. An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. An act of hitting or trying to hit a ball; also, the manner in which this is done. The hitting of a ball with a racket; also, the movement of the racket and arm that produces that impact.

  9. A movement similar to that of hitting. 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
  10. A movement similar to that of hitting. One of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished. The movement of an oar or paddle through water: either the cycle of movement as a whole, or the propelling phase (as opposed to the return); the manner in which such movements are made; a rowing style.

  11. A movement similar to that of hitting. One of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished. The rower nearest the stern of the boat, the movement of whose oar sets the rhythm for the other rowers; the position in the boat occupied by this rower.

    broadly
  12. A movement similar to that of hitting. One of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished. A movement of the arms and legs which propels a swimmer through the water; a specific combination of such movements, constituting a swimming style.

    butterfly stroke
  13. A movement similar to that of hitting. A beat or throb, as of the heart or pulse.

  14. A movement similar to that of hitting. A single movement or thrust of a reciprocating device (such as a piston or connecting rod).

    For the pistons of a four-stroke engine, the exhaust stroke follows the power stroke.
  15. A movement similar to that of hitting. The length of this movement.

    The bore times the stroke times the number of cylinders equals displacement.
  16. A movement similar to that of hitting. A thrust of the penis during sexual intercourse.

  17. An act causing hurt or death, especially when seen as divine punishment.

    figuratively
    the stroke of death
  18. A damaging occurrence, especially if sudden; a blow, a calamity.

    figuratively
  19. An amount of work; specifically, a large amount of business or work.

    figuratively
    a stroke of business
  20. A powerful or sudden effort by which something is done or produced; also, something accomplished by such an effort; an achievement, a feat.

    figuratively
    a stroke of genius
  21. A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.

    figuratively
  22. A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement. A line making up a written character.

    figuratively
  23. A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement. In Unicode: the formal name of the individual horizontal strikethroughs (as in "A̶").

    figuratively
  24. A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement. The oblique, slash, or virgule ("/").

    Commonwealth · Ireland · UK · figuratively
  25. A distinctive expression in a written composition; a touch.

    figuratively
    to give some finishing strokes to an essay
  26. Influence; power.

    archaic · figuratively
  27. Influence; power. Backstage influence.

    archaic · figuratively
  28. A masterful or effective action.

    figuratively
  29. A sudden interruption of blood supply to the brain, causing minor to major brain damage and possible death; it may be either hemorrhagic or thrombotic.

    suffer a stroke
  30. An individual discharge of lightning, particularly if causing damage.

    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.
  31. An individual social interaction whereby one gives another attention or recognition.

  32. The effect or result of a striking; affliction or injury; a bruise or wound; soreness.

    obsolete
  33. Chiefly in to have a good stroke: appetite.

    obsolete
  34. A sudden attack of any illness, especially if causing loss of consciousness or movement, or when fatal.

    obsolete
    a stroke of apoplexy
  35. A bow or pluck of a string or strings of a stringed instrument; also, the manner in which a musical instrument is played; hence, a melody, a tune.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”). Sense 3.5.2.2 (“the oblique, slash, or virgule (‘/’)”) is a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique which was originally used in telegraphy. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * German Streich (“stroke”) * Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”) * Scots strak, strake, straik (“blow, stroke”)

verb/stɹəʊk/Received-Pronunciation/stɹoʊk/General-American/stɹʌok//stɾʌok/
  1. To draw the horizontal line across the upright part (of the letter t).

    transitive
  2. Followed by out or through: to draw a line or lines through (text) to indicate that it is deleted; to cancel, to strike or strike out.

    transitive
  3. Of a bell or clock: to chime or sound to indicate (the hour, the time, etc.).

    poetic · rare · transitive
  4. To mark (something) with lines or stripes; to stripe.

    rare · transitive
  5. To hit or kick (the ball) with a flowing or smooth motion; also, to score (a goal, a point, etc.) by doing so.

    transitive
  6. Of a rower or a crew: to row at (a rate of a certain number of strokes (“movements of the oar through water”) per minute).

    transitive
  7. To act as the stroke (“rower who is nearest the stern of the boat, the movement of whose oar sets the rowing rhythm for the other rowers”) of (a boat or its crew).

    transitive
    to stroke a boat
  8. To strike (the water) with one's arms and legs when swimming.

    transitive
  9. To lengthen the stroke of (an engine) by installing a crankshaft with longer throws.

    transitive
    Yes, it's 'only' a small block, but it’s got some tricks up its sleeve — it's been bored, stroked, ported, polished, and fuel-injected.
  10. To depict (something) with a paintbrush.

    obsolete · transitive
  11. Chiefly followed by out: to suffer loss of brain function when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted; to have a stroke (noun sense 4).

    intransitive
  12. To swim by making co-ordinated movements with the arms and legs.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”). Sense 3.5.2.2 (“the oblique, slash, or virgule (‘/’)”) is a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique which was originally used in telegraphy. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * German Streich (“stroke”) * Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”) * Scots strak, strake, straik (“blow, stroke”)

verb/stɹəʊk/Received-Pronunciation/stɹoʊk/General-American/stɹʌok//stɾʌok/
  1. To move one's hand or an object (such as a broom or brush) along (a surface) in one direction, touching it lightly; to caress.

    transitive
  2. To move one's hand or an object (such as a broom or brush) along (a surface) in one direction, touching it lightly; to caress. To masturbate.

    broadly · intransitive · transitive · uncommon · vulgar
  3. To bring (something) to a certain condition by stroking (sense 1).

    also · figuratively · transitive
  4. To give assurance to (someone) through encouragement.

    especially · figuratively · transitive
  5. To influence (someone) by convincing or flattering them.

    US · broadly · figuratively · transitive
  6. To milk (a cow or other animal); especially, to squeeze the teat of (a cow, etc.) to extract the last bit of milk from the udder; to strap (dialectal), to strip.

    transitive
  7. To give a finely fluted surface to (stone) by carving it with a tool.

    transitive
  8. To sharpen (a knife or other cutting instrument) by honing or rubbing it against a surface.

    obsolete · transitive
  9. To soothe (someone); also, to flatter or indulge (someone).

    figuratively · obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English stroken, straken (“to caress, fondle, pat, rub, smooth, stroke; to pass something over (someone or something); to brush or rub against;”) [and other forms], from Old English strācian (“to stroke”), from Proto-West Germanic *straikōn (“to caress, stroke”), from *straik (“a line, stroke; a dash”) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōn (suffix forming verbs from nouns). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * German streicheln (“to stroke, fondle”) * German Low German straken, strieken, strakeln, striekeln (“to stroke; caress; fondle”) * Middle Low German strēken, Middle Dutch strēken (modern Dutch streeken) * Old High German strīhhan, streihhōn, Middle High German strīchen (modern German streichen (“to stroke; to rub; to spread; to apply; to paint; to cancel; to cross out, strike out; to delete; to discard”)) * Saterland Frisian strookje (“to stroke; caress”) * West Frisian streakje (“to stroke; caress”)

noun/stɹəʊk/Received-Pronunciation/stɹoʊk/General-American/stɹʌok//stɾʌok/
  1. An act of moving one's hand or an object along a surface in one direction, touching it lightly; a caress.

    transitive
    She gave the cat a stroke.
  2. A gesture of assurance given as encouragement; specifically (psychoanalysis) in transactional analysis: a (generally positive) reaction expressed to a person which fulfils their desires or needs.

    figuratively · transitive
  3. A flattering or friendly act, comment, etc., done or made to a person to influence them.

    US · figuratively · transitive
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Middle English stroken, straken (“to caress, fondle, pat, rub, smooth, stroke; to pass something over (someone or something); to brush or rub against;”) [and other forms], from Old English strācian (“to stroke”), from Proto-West Germanic *straikōn (“to caress, stroke”), from *straik (“a line, stroke; a dash”) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōn (suffix forming verbs from nouns). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * German streicheln (“to stroke, fondle”) * German Low German straken, strieken, strakeln, striekeln (“to stroke; caress; fondle”) * Middle Low German strēken, Middle Dutch strēken (modern Dutch streeken) * Old High German strīhhan, streihhōn, Middle High German strīchen (modern German streichen (“to stroke; to rub; to spread; to apply; to paint; to cancel; to cross out, strike out; to delete; to discard”)) * Saterland Frisian strookje (“to stroke; caress”) * West Frisian streakje (“to stroke; caress”)

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.