stroke
pronunciation
How to pronounce stroke in British English:
UK [strəʊk]
How to pronounce stroke in American English:
US [stroʊk]
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- Noun:
- (sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand
- the maximum movement available to a pivoted or reciprocating piece by a cam
- a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain
- a light touch
- a light touch with the hands
- the oarsman nearest the stern of the shell who sets the pace for the rest of the crew
- a punctuation mark (/) used to separate related items of information
- a mark made by a writing implement (as in cursive writing)
- any one of the repeated movements of the limbs and body used for locomotion in swimming or rowing
- a single complete movement
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- Verb:
- touch lightly and with affection, with brushing motions
- strike a ball with a smooth blow
- row at a particular rate
- treat gingerly or carefully
Word Origin
- stroke
- stroke: The verb stroke [OE] and the noun stroke [13] are different words, but they come ultimately from the same source – the prehistoric Germanic base *strīk-, *straik- ‘touch lightly’ (from which English also gets streak and strike). The verb has stayed very close semantically to its source, whereas the noun has followed the same path as its corresponding verb strike.=> streak, strike
- stroke (n.)
- "act of striking," c. 1300, probably from Old English *strac "stroke," from Proto-Germanic *straik- (cognates: Middle Low German strek, German streich, Gothic striks "stroke"); see stroke (v.). The meaning "mark of a pen" is from 1560s; that of "a striking of a clock" is from mid-15c. Sense of "feat, achievement" (as in stroke of luck, 1853) first found 1670s; the meaning "single pull of an oar or single movement of machinery" is from 1731. Meaning "apoplectic seizure" is from 1590s (originally the Stroke of God's Hand). Swimming sense is from 1800.
- stroke (v.)
- "pass the hand gently over," Old English stracian "to stroke," related to strican "pass over lightly," from Proto-Germanic *straik-, from PIE root *streig- "to stroke, rub, press" (see strigil). Figurative sense of "soothe, flatter" is recorded from 1510s. The noun meaning "a stroking movement of the hand" is recorded from 1630s. Related: Stroked; stroking.
Example
- 1. Grandma had died suddenly that morning of a stroke .
- 2. Low amounts may help prevent health threats from stroke to heart attack .
- 3. Apply a thin stroke , then smudge in with a cotton swab .
- 4. When I was resting on the sofa you would sometimes stroke my hair as you walked past .
- 5. That gives it a better sense of whether a stroke was intended to be horizontal , vertical , or diagonal .