strike

—strikeless, adj.

/struyk/, v., struck or (Obs.) strook; struck or (esp. for 31-34) stricken or (Obs.) strook; striking; n., adj.

v.t.

1. to deal a blow or stroke to (a person or thing), as with the fist, a weapon, or a hammer; hit.

2. to inflict, deliver, or deal (a blow, stroke, attack, etc.).

3. to drive so as to cause impact: to strike the hands together.

4. to thrust forcibly: Brutus struck a dagger into the dying Caesar.

5. to produce (fire, sparks, light, etc.) by percussion, friction, etc.

6. to cause (a match) to ignite by friction.

7. (of some natural or supernatural agency) to smite or blast: Lightning struck the spire. May God strike you dead!

8. to come into forcible contact or collision with; hit into or against: The ship struck a rock.

9. to reach or fall upon (the senses), as light or sound: A shrill peal of bells struck their ears.

10. to enter the mind of; occur to: A happy thought struck him.

11. to catch or arrest (the sight, hearing, etc.): the first object that strikes one's eye.

12. to impress strongly: a picture that strikes one's fancy.

13. to impress in a particular manner: How does it strike you?

14. to come across, meet with, or encounter suddenly or unexpectedly: to strike the name of a friend in a newspaper.

15. to come upon or find (oil, ore, etc.) in drilling, prospecting, or the like.

16. to send down or put forth (a root), as a plant or cutting.

17. to arrive at or achieve by or as by balancing: to strike a balance; to strike a compromise.

18. to take apart or pull down (a structure or object, as a tent).

19. to remove from the stage (the scenery and properties of an act or scene): to strike a set.

20. Naut.

a. to lower or take down (a sail, mast, etc.).

b. to lower (a sail, flag, etc.) as a salute or as a sign of surrender.

c. to lower (something) into the hold of a vessel by means of a rope and tackle.

21. Falconry. to loosen (a hood) from the head of a hawk so that it may be instantly removed.

22. Angling.

a. to hook (a fish that has taken the bait) by making a sharp jerk on the line.

b. (of a fish) to snatch at (the bait).

23. to harpoon (a whale).

24. (in technical use) to make level or smooth.

25. to make level or even, as a measure of grain or salt, by drawing a strickle across the top.

26. to efface, cancel, or cross out, with or as with the stroke of a pen (usually fol. by out): to strike a passage out of a book.

27. to impress or stamp (a coin, medal, etc.) by printing or punching: to strike a medal in commemoration.

28. to remove or separate with or as if with a cut (usually fol. by off): Illness struck him off from social contacts. The butcher struck off a chop.

29. Masonry. to finish (a mortar joint) with a stroke of the trowel.

30. to indicate (the hour of day) by a stroke or strokes, as a clock: to strike 12.

31. to afflict suddenly, as with disease, suffering, or death (often fol. by down): The plague struck Europe. Apoplexy struck him down.

32. to overwhelm emotionally, as with terror or fear; affect deeply.

33. to make blind, dumb, etc., suddenly, as if by a blow.

34. to implant or induce (a feeling): to strike fear into a person.

35. to start or move suddenly into (vigorous movement): The horse struck a gallop.

36. to assume (an attitude or posture): He likes to strike a noble pose.

37. to cause (chill, warmth, etc.) to pass or penetrate quickly.

38. to come upon or reach in traveling or in a course of procedure: We struck Rome before dark.

39. to make, conclude, or ratify (an agreement, treaty, etc.).

40. to estimate or determine (a mean or average).

41. to leave off (work) or stop (working) as a coercive measure, or as at the close of the day.

42. (of a union or union member)

a. to declare or engage in a suspension of (work) until an employer grants certain demands, such as pay increases, an improved pension plan, etc.

b. to declare or engage in a suspension of work against (a factory, employer, industry, etc.) until certain demands are met.

43. to draw (a straight line); paint the edge of an area with (a regular, usually straight line).

44. Law. to choose (a jury) from a panel by striking off names until only the required number remains.

v.i.

45. to deal or aim a blow or stroke, as with the fist, a weapon, or a hammer.

46. to make an attack, esp. a planned military assault: Our troops struck at dawn.

47. to knock, rap, or tap.

48. to hit or dash on or against something, as a moving body does; come into forcible contact; collide.

49. to run upon a bank, rock, or other obstacle, as a ship does.

50. to fall, as light or sound does (fol. by on or upon).

51. to make an impression on the mind, senses, etc., as something seen or heard.

52. to come suddenly or unexpectedly (usually fol. by on or upon): to strike on a new way of doing a thing.

53. to sound by percussion: The clock strikes.

54. to be indicated by or as by such percussion: The hour has struck.

55. to ignite or be ignited by friction, as a match.

56. to make a stroke, as with the arms or legs in swimming or with an oar in rowing.

57. to produce a sound, music, etc., by touching a string or playing upon an instrument.

58. to take root, as a slip of a plant.

59. to go, proceed, or advance, esp. in a new direction: They struck out at dawn. They struck toward a new town.

60. -

a. U.S. Army. to act as a voluntary paid servant to a commissioned officer.

b. U.S. Navy. to work hard: strive (followed by for): He is striking for yeoman.

61. (of a union or union member) to engage in a suspension of work until an employer or industry meets certain demands.

62. Naut.

a. to lower the flag or colors, esp. as a salute or as a sign of surrender.

b. to run up the white flag of surrender.

63. Angling. (of fish) to swallow or take the bait.

64. strike camp, to dismantle and pack up equipment; prepare to move on; break camp: The army struck camp and moved on.

65. strike hands, to conclude a bargain, as by shaking or joining hands; confirm an agreement: They reached a price satisfactory to both of them, and struck hands on it.

66. strike home,

a. to deal an effective blow, hit a vulnerable part, or wound critically or mortally: The second arrow struck home.

b. to have the intended effect; hit the mark: The sermon on Christian charity struck home.

67. strike in, to interrupt suddenly; intervene: I struck in with a suggestion.

68. strike it rich,

a. to come upon a valuable mineral or oil deposit.

b. to have sudden or unexpected financial success: She struck it rich in real estate.

69. strike off,

a. Print. to print: They struck off 300 copies of the book.

b. to remove or cancel, as from a record, list, etc.: His name was struck off the waiting list.

c. to produce rapidly and easily: She struck off several letters and had no more work to do.

d. to depart rapidly: We struck off for the country.

70. strike oil. See oil (def. 9).

71. strike out,

a. Baseball. to put out or be put out by a strike-out: The pitcher walked two and struck out three. He struck out twice in three times at bat.

b. (of a person or effort) to fail: His next two business ventures struck out.

c. to lose favor.

d. to erase; cross out.

e. to set forth; venture forth: She struck out on her own at the age of 18.

72. strike up,

a. to begin to play or to sing: The orchestra struck up a waltz.

b. to set in operation; begin: Strike up the band!

c. to bring into being; commence; begin: to strike up an acquaintance with new neighbors.

n.

73. an act or instance of striking.

74. a concerted stopping of work or withdrawal of workers' services, as to compel an employer to accede to workers' demands or in protest against terms or conditions imposed by an employer.

75. a temporary stoppage of something.

76. Also called strike plate. a metal plate on a jamb holding the bolt of the lock on a door when closed.

77. Baseball.

a. a pitch that is swung at and missed by the batter.

b. a pitch that passes through the strike zone and is not swung at by the batter.

c. a foul tip caught by the catcher when there are already two strikes against the batter.

d. a foul bunt when there are already two strikes against the batter.

e. a ball hit foul and not caught on the fly when there are less than two strikes against the batter.

78. Bowling.

a. the knocking down of all of the pins with the first bowl.

b. the score so made. Cf. spare (def. 22).

79. Horol. the striking mechanism of a timepiece.

80. Brewing. the degree of excellence or strength of beer, ale, etc.

81. Angling.

a. a sharp jerk on the line, made in order to set the hook in the mouth of the fish.

b. a pull on the line, made by the fish in the process of taking the bait.

82. Coining. a quantity of coins struck at one time.

83. Geol.

a. the direction of the line formed by the intersection of the bedding plane of a bed or stratum of sedimentary rock with a horizontal plane.

b. the direction or trend of a structural feature, as an anticlinal axis or the lineation resulting from metamorphism.

84. the discovery of a rich vein or ore in mining, of petroleum in boring, etc.

85. Mil. a planned attack, esp. by aircraft, on a target.

86. have two strikes against one, to be in an unfavorable or a critical position: His age and his lack of education are two strikes against him in his search for a job.

87. on strike, engaged in a stoppage of work, services, or other activities, as by union workers to get better wages.

adj.

88. Mil. describing a fighter-bomber aircraft designed to carry large payloads at high speeds and low altitudes and also to engage in air-to-air combat.

[bef. 1000; 1768 for def. 74; (v.) ME striken to stroke, beat, cross out, OE strican to stroke, make level; c. G streichen; (n.) ME: unit of dry measure (i.e., something leveled off; see STRICK), deriv. of the v.; akin to STREAK, STROKE¹]

Syn. 1. STRIKE, HIT, KNOCK imply suddenly bringing one body in contact with another. STRIKE suggests such an action in a general way: to strike a child. HIT is less formal than STRIKE, and often implies giving a single blow, but usually a strong one and definitely aimed: to hit a baseball. To KNOCK is to strike, often with a tendency to displace the object struck; it also means to strike repeatedly: to knock someone down; to knock at a door. See also beat.

Ant. 1. miss.

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I

Collective refusal by employees to work under the conditions set by employers.

Strikes may arise from disputes over wages and working conditions. They may also be conducted in sympathy with other striking workers, or for purely political goals. Many strikes are organized by labour unions; strikes not authorized by the union (wildcat strikes) may be directed against union leadership as well as the employer. The right to strike is granted in principle to workers in nearly all industrialized countries, and its use has paralleled the rise of labour unions since the 19th century. Most strikes are intended to inflict a cost to employers for failure to meet specific demands. Among Japanese unions, strikes are not intended to halt production for long periods of time and are more akin to demonstrations. In western Europe and elsewhere, workers have carried out general strikes aimed at winning changes in the political system rather than concessions from employers. The decision to call a strike does not come easily, because union workers risk a loss of income for long periods of time. They also risk the permanent loss of their jobs, especially when replacement workers hired to continue operations during the strike stay on as permanent employees. See also boycott; lockout.

II

In geology, the direction of the line formed by the intersection of a fault, bed, or other planar feature and a horizontal plane.

Strike indicates the orientation of planar structural features such as faults, beds, joints, and folds.

III

(as used in expressions)

Boston Police Strike

general strike

Homestead Strike

Pullman Strike

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▪ geology

      in geology, direction of the line formed by the intersection of a fault, bed, or other planar feature and a horizontal plane. Strike indicates the attitude or position of linear structural features such as faults, beds, joints, and folds. Trend is the direction of the line formed by the intersection of the planar feature with the ground surface; trend is the same as strike only if the ground surface is parallel to the horizontal plane. Dip is the angle at which a planar feature is inclined to the horizontal plane; it is measured in a vertical plane perpendicular to the strike of the feature. Plunge is the vertical angle between the horizontal plane and the axis or line of maximum elongation of a feature. Plunge is measured along the axis of a fold, whereas dip is measured along the limbs. Pitch is the angle between the axis of the feature and the strike of the plane containing the axis.

▪ industrial relations

      collective refusal by employees to work under the conditions required by employers. Strikes arise for a number of reasons, though principally in response to economic conditions (defined as an economic strike and meant to improve wages and benefits) or labour practices (intended to improve work conditions). Other strikes can stem from sympathy with other striking unions or from jurisdictional disputes between two unions. Illegal strikes include sit-down strikes, wildcat strikes, and partial strikes (such as slowdowns or sick-ins). Strikes may also be called for purely political reasons (as in the general strike).

      In most industrialized countries, the right to strike is granted in principle to private-sector workers. Some countries, however, require that specific efforts toward settlement be made before a strike can be called, while other countries forbid purely political strikes or strikes by public employees.

      Most strikes and threats of strikes are intended to inflict a cost on the employer for failing to agree to specific wages, benefits, or other conditions demanded by the union. Strikes by Japanese unions are not intended to halt production for long periods of time; instead, they are seen as demonstrations of solidarity. Occasionally, strikes have been politically motivated, and they sometimes have been directed against governments and their policies, as was the case with the Polish union Solidarity in the 1980s. Strikes not authorized by the central union body may be directed against the union leadership as well as the employer.

      The decision to call a strike does not come easily, because union workers risk a loss of income for long periods of time. They also risk the permanent loss of their jobs, especially when replacement workers hired to continue operations during the strike stay on as permanent employees.

      In the United States, this strike-breaking tactic was seldom used on a large scale before the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike of 1981, when President Ronald Reagan (Reagan, Ronald W.) ordered the hiring of permanent replacement controllers. Most federal, state, and municipal unions in the United States are, by law, denied the right to strike, and the air traffic controllers' strike was illegal. Laws administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) govern the replacement of workers who go on strike, permitting the permanent replacement of workers only when an economic strike is called during contract negotiations. In other words, employers cannot lawfully hire permanent replacement workers during a strike over unfair labour practices. Nonetheless, the threat of job loss has created a sharp decline in the number and length of economic strikes in the United States. American unions have responded by devising new tactics that include selective strikes (which target the sites that will cause the company the greatest economic harm) and rolling strikes (which target a succession of employer sites, making it difficult for the employer to hire replacements because the strike's location is always changing).

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