Английский Этимологический словарь - strike (v.)

- O.E. strican "pass over lightly, stroke, smooth, rub," also "go, proceed" (past tense strac, pp. stricen), from P.Gmc. *strik-, from PIE base *str(e)ig- "to stroke, rub, press." Related to streak and stroke, and perhaps influenced in sense development by cognate O.N. striuka. Sense of "to deal a blow" developed by 1325. Meaning "cancel with the stroke of a pen" is from 1395. Meaning "refuse to work to force an employer to meet demands" is from 1768, perhaps from notion of striking or "downing" one's tools, or from sailors' practice of striking (lowering) a ship's sails as a symbol of refusal to go to sea (1768), which preserves the word's sense of "make level, smooth." Baseball sense is first recorded 1853. An older sense is preserved in strike for "go toward."