first strike
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.64 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An attack (typically nuclear) launched without warning in the absence of a prior attack by one's opponent, with the intention of destroying one's opponent's ability to retaliate.
noun
A first offense by a lawbreaker, as counted by a three-strikes law.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: decapitation strike"
- "During the Cold War, both sides feared that the other was preparing to launch a first strike."
- ""Where I come from 'proactive defense' is a euphemism for "first strike." "This is not that approach, Putzho. We have evolved to defend ourselves with a much subtler, gentler approach.""
- "In the end, the question proved to be academic. When SCP-3125 arrived, whether it knew ω-0 was there or not, it took no special action against it, and had no need to. Most of ω-0's members' anchors were Foundationers, or Foundation-adjacent. With those people's minds blown away in the first strike, the dense web of mutual memory which had held the Task Force together since its formation tore loose. More than half of the Task Force was cast into the void and died; the final, real death they had evaded for years."
- "His first strike was when he stole a car to go for a joyride."
- "Collectors pay a premium for first strikes in order to get their hands on coins with the crispest possible detailing."