stroke
/stɹoʊk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.27 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "a stroke on the chin"
- "Hee paſſed the vvhole length of Italie vvithout reſiſtance, […] He likevviſe entred and vvonne (in effect) the vvhole Kingdome of Naples it ſelfe, vvithout ſtriking ſtroke."
- "But becauſe amongſt many ſtroaks, vvhich our eyes, eares, and other organs receive from external bodies, the predominant onely is ſenſible; therefore the light of the Sun being predominant, vve are not affected vvith the action of the ſtarrs."
- "[A]fter the impulſive force, vvhich drove them upvvard, grevv languid, nor vvas there any other ſtroak, vvhich might toſſe them that vvay, the Atoms themſelves, endeavouring to go dovvn again, met vvith obſacles from others, vvhereupon they flevv about vvith greater activity, […]"
- "With many a wanton stroke / Her feet disperse the powd'ry snow / That rises up like smoke."
- "Singapore plans to cane scammers and scam mules, with mandatory caning of at least six strokes for scammers and discretionary caning for mules."
Etymology
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”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /stɹoʊk/
- British English: /stɹəʊk/
Usage
- British usage
- Archaic
- Obsolete
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
- American usage
Inflected Forms
strokes (plural)
stroak (alternative)
strokes (present, singular)
stroking (participle, present)
stroked (participle, past)
stroked (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
stroked (first person, past)
strokest (archaic, present)
stroked (past, second person)
strokedst (archaic, past)