Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - strike

~1 v past tense and past participle struck THINK/NOTICE 1 if a thought or idea strikes you, you suddenly realize that it is important, interesting, surprising, bad etc  (The funny side of the affair suddenly struck her. | it strikes sb that)  (It struck Carol that what he'd said about Helen applied to her too. | be struck by)  (We were struck by the generosity of even the poorest citizens.)  (- see occur) 2 strike sb as sth to seem to have a particular quality or feature  (His jokes didn't strike Jack as being very funny. | How did he strike you? (=how did he seem to you?) | it strikes sb as)  (It strikes me as a great idea. | strike sb as strange/odd/funny etc)  (It struck me as odd at the time.) 3 strike the eye to be particularly noticeable  (What strikes your eye at once is her gorgeous red hair.) STOP WORK 4 to deliberately stop working for a time because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc  (The police are forbidden to strike. | strike for)  (We're striking for another two dollars an hour.) HIT 5 I always + adv/prep, formal to hit or knock hard against something  (strike (sth) against)  (Then my shovel struck against something metallic. | strike sb/sth on)  (A snowball struck him on the back of the head. | strike sth)  (My foot struck a rock. | be struck by sth)  (The car had been struck by a falling tree.) 6 »WITH YOUR HAND« formal to deliberately hit someone or something hard, especially with your hand  (I wouldn't dream of striking a woman. | strike the bass drum | strike sth with)  (He struck the table with his fist. | strike a blow)  (The blow was almost certainly struck with the left hand. | strike home (=hit something exactly where you were aiming to hit it))  (His sword struck home deep into the bull's neck.) 7 strike a match/light to light a match by hitting it against a hard surface LIGHTNING 8 when lightning strikes something, it hits and damages it  (That old forked tree was once struck by lightning.) ATTACK/HARM 9 to attack quickly and suddenly  (When the snake strikes, its mouth opens wide. | Police fear that the killer will strike again. | strike at)  (This law strikes at the most vulnerable groups in our society. | strike at the heart of)  (spending cuts that strike at the heart of socialized medicine) 10 if something unpleasant strikes, it suddenly happens  (Tragedy struck two days later when Tammy was in a serious car accident.) 11 to do something that gives you an advantage or harms your opponent in a fight, competition etc  (Brazil struck first with a goal in the third minute. | strike the first blow (=gain the first advantage)) 12 strike a blow for to do something to help an idea, belief, or organization  (It's time we struck a blow for women's rights.) 13 strike a blow at to have a harmful effect on people's behaviour or beliefs  (This latest research strikes a blow at the foundations of psychiatry.) EXPRESS AN OPINION/FEELING 14 strike a chord to express an opinion or idea that other people agree with or have sympathy with  (Powell's angry speech struck a deep chord with his audience.) 15 strike a happy/cheerful/cautious etc note to express a particular feeling or attitude  (The article struck a conciliatory note. | strike the right note/a discordant note (=express or fail to express what people are feeling))  (Her speech appeared to strike exactly the right note.) 16 strike home if something that you say strikes home, it has exactly the effect on someone that you intended  (Anna's criticism of his laziness really struck home.) »CLOCKS« 17 when a clock strikes or strikes one, six etc, its bell sounds a certain number of times to show what the time is  (The church clock began to strike twelve. | strike the hour (=strike when it is exactly one o'clock, two o'clock etc)) »STRONG FEELINGS« 18 strike terror/fear/a chill into sb's heart to make someone feel afraid  (The word `cancer' still strikes terror into many hearts.) 19 be struck dumb to be unable to speak, usually because you are very surprised  (When the Queen shook my hand, I was struck dumb.) FIND 20 strike gold/oil etc to suddenly find gold, oil etc, especially after you have been looking for it  (They finally struck gold in 1886.) 21 strike it rich/lucky to suddenly make a lot of money or have good luck  (With her last book she's really struck it rich.) »DO STH« 22 strike a balance to give the correct amount of importance or attention to two opposing things  (strike the right balance)  (The speech strikes the right balance between humour and seriousness.) 23 strike a bargain/deal to agree to do something if someone else does something for you  (The US and China have recently struck a deal over trade.) 24 strike while the iron is hot (usually imperative) to do something immediately rather than waiting until a later time when you are less likely to succeed »OTHER MEANINGS« 25 »LIGHT« to fall on a surface  (What happens when light strikes a glass lens?) 26 be within striking distance to be very close to something or very near to achieving something 27 strike a pose/attitude to stand or sit with your body in a particular position  (Eva walked to the middle of the room, turned, and struck a pose with her head to one side.) 28 strike sb/sth off/from to remove a name or a thing from a written list  (We had to strike him off the short list.) 29 »TENT/SAIL« to take down a tent or sail  (strike camp (=take down tents when leaving a camping place)) strike back phr v to attack someone who has attacked you first  (The rebels struck back within hours.) strike sb down phr v 1 to hit someone so hard that they fall down 2 usually passive to make someone die or become seriously ill  (Hundreds died that winter, struck down by pneumonia.) strike off phr v be struck off BrE if a doctor, lawyer etc is struck off, their name is removed from the official list of people who are allowed to work as doctors etc strike on/upon sth phr v 1 to discover something or have a good idea about something  (At last I've struck on a plan that might work.) 2 be struck on BrE informal to think that something is good or well made  (I'm not very struck on these chocolates.) strike out phr v 1 »NAME« T strike something out) to draw a line through something written on a piece of paper 2 »WALK/SWIM« to start walking or swimming in a particular direction, especially in a determined way  (He decided to follow her, striking out in the same direction.) 3 strike out on your/his/their own to start doing something new or living by yourself, without other people's help  (Eric left the family business and struck out on his own.) 4 »NOT SUCCEED« informal especially AmE to be unsuccessful at something  ("Did she say she'd go out with you?" "No, I struck out.") 5 »BASEBALL« a) to be unable to continue trying to hit the ball in baseball, because you have already missed it three times b) T strike someone out) to put a player out in baseball by making them fail to hit the ball three times strike up phr v 1 to begin playing a piece of music  (strike up the band (=tell it to begin playing)) 2 strike up a friendship/relationship/conversation to start to become friendly with someone ~2 n 1 »STOP WORK« a period of time when a group of workers deliberately stop working because of a disagreement about pay, working conditions etc  (miners'/train/electricity etc strike)  (During the teachers' strike, all the schools were closed. | go on strike/on strike)  (The Boston police went on strike in 1919. | be (out) on strike)  (Within half an hour, all the drivers were out on strike. | come out/go out on strike (=start one) | call a strike (=ask people to stop working) | call off a strike (=decide not to continue it) | strike action)  (The mineworkers were solidly in favour of strike action. | general strike (=involving most workers in the country)) 2 hunger/rent strike a time when someone refuses to eat or pay rent as a protest about something  (a hunger strike by political prisoners) 3 »ATTACK« a military attack, especially by aircraft dropping bombs + against/on  (nuclear strikes on several targets | launch a strike)  (American aircraft carriers have launched several strikes.)  (- see also first strike) 4 oil strike the discovery of oil under the ground 5 »SPORT« a) a situation in bowling (1) in which you knock down all the pins (1) (=bottle shaped objects) with one or two balls b) an attempt to hit the ball in baseball in which you miss hitting the ball