strike 
to strike out for the shore, (c) To make a sudden move or 
excursion : as, to strike out into an irregular course of life. 
I concluded to move on and strike out to the south and 
southwest into Missouri. The Century, XLI. 107. 
(d) In base-ball, to be put out because of failure to strike the 
ball after a certain number of trials : saiil of the batter. 
To Strike up. (a) To begin to play or sing. 
If the Musicke overcome not my melancholly, I shall 
quarrel ; and if they sodainly do not strike up, I shall 
presently strike thee downe. 
Heywood, Woman Killed with Kindness, i. 1. 
He got a little excited, as you may have seen a canary 
sometimes when another strikes up. 
0. W. Uolmes, Autocrat, ix. 
(b) To make acquaintance; become associated : with with. 
[Colloq.] 
He spurr'd to London, and left a thousand curses behind 
him. Here he struck up with sharpers, scourers and Al- 
satians. 
Gentleman Instructed, p. 491. (Dames, under Alsatian.) 
II. trans. If. To pass the hand over lightly; 
stroke : as, to strike the beard or hair. 
I stryke ones heed, as we do a chyldes whan he dothe 
well. Je applanie. ... My father sayeth I am a good 
sonne; he Uyd stryke my heed by cause I had conned my 
lesson without the booke. Palsgrave. 
Also euen when he [Sir T. More] shuld lay doune his head 
on the blocke, he, hauyng a great gray beard, striked out 
his beard, and sayd to the hangman, I pray you let me lay 
my beard ouer the blocke least ye should cut It. 
Hall, Chron. (ed. 1809), p. 818. 
2f. To pass lightly as in stroking. 
I thought, He will surely . . . strike his hand over the 
place and recover the leper. 2 Ki. v. 11. 
3. To make level or even, as a measure of grain, 
salt, etc., by drawing a strickle or straight-edge 
along the top, or, in the ease of potatoes, by 
seeking to make the projections equal to the de- 
pressions: as, to strike a bushel of wheat; a 
struck or striked as distinguished from a heaped 
measure. 
5992 
One meets (on paper only) with the " eighteen-carat 
desperado," who has "struck it rich " on the Pikes or in 
the ranches. Cornhiil Mag., N. S., No. 84, p. 369. 
We resumed our march the following day, but soon 
struck snow that materially impeded our progress 
Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 400. 
"I didn't strike the stairs at first," whispered the butch- 
er, "and I went too far along that upper hall ; but when 
I came against a door that was partly open I knew I was 
wrong, and turned back." 
F. R. Stocktun, Merry Chanter, xii. 
11. To enter the mind of, as an idea; occur to. 
It appeared never to have struck traveller or tourist that 
there was anything in Albania except snipes. 
R. Curzon, Monast. in the Levant, p. 204. 
It struck me that ... it might be worth while to study 
him. D. Christie Murray, Weaker Vessel, iv. 
Four strailced measures or flrlots contains In just propor- 
tion four heaped itrlots. 
Report Scotch Commissioners, 1618. 
All grain to be measured stricked, without heaps, and 
without pressing or shaking down. 
Act Irish Parliament, 1896. 
4f. To balance the accounts in. 
And the said journal], with two other bookes to lye 
upon the greencloth dayly, to the intent the accomptants 
and other particular clerkes, may take out the solutions 
entred into said bookes, whereby they may strike their 
lydgers, and soe to bring in their accompts incontinently 
upon the same. 
Ordinances and Regulations, p. 229. (HaUiwell.) 
5. To lower or dip ; let, take, or haul down : 
as, to strike the topmasts; to strike a flag, as in 
token of surrender or salute ; to strike or lower 
anything below decks. 
Fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, [they] 
strake sail, and so were driven. Acts xx'vii 17 
Now, strike your sailes, yee jolly Mariners, 
For we be come unto a quiet rode. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. xii. 42. 
The Maltese commanding ours to strike their flag for 
the great masters of Malta, and ours bidding them strike 
for the King of England. 
Court and Times of Charles I., I. 409. 
6. To take down or apart ; pack up and remove 
fold : as, to strike a tent ; to strike a scene on the 
stage of a theater. 
The king, who now found himself without an enerav In 
these parts, struck his tents, and returned to Gaza in Da- 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, II. 28. 
Yes, on the first bad weather you'll give orders to strike 
' tents - Sheridan (?), The Camp, ii. 3. 
7. To lade into a cooler, as cane-juice in sugar- 
making. 8t. To dab; rub; smear; anoint. 
They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side 
P 9ts - Ex. xii. 7. 
The mother said nothing to this, but gave nurse a cer- 
ch'ild'se e w' h' direction8 that 8he should strike the 
Keijhtleys Fairy Mythology (Bonn's Ant Lib-X p. 302. 
9. To efface with a stroke of a pen; erase; 
remove from a record as being rejected, erro- 
neous, or obsolete : with away, out, off. etc.: as 
to strike out an item in an account. 
Madam, the wonted mercy of the king 
That overtakes your faults, has met with this 
And struck it out. 
Beau, and Fl. , King and No King, 11. 1. 
That thou diiist love her, strikes some scores awav 
From the great compt. Shak., All's Well, v. 3. 66. 
Vernon is struck o/the list of admirals. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 18. 
Halifax was informed that his services were no longer 
needed, and his name was struck out of the Council Book 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng.,vi. 
10. To come upon suddenly or unexpectedly; 
nit upon; light upon; find; discover: as, to 
strike ml; to strike ore ; to strike the right path. 
[Chiefly colloq.] 
12. To impress strongly : as, the spectacle 
struck him as a solemn one. 
It [the temple of Baalbec) strikes the Mind with an Air of 
Greatness beyond any thing that I ever saw before and is 
an eminent proof of the Magnificence of the ancient \rclii- 
lecture. MaundreU, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 137. 
I have been struck, also, with the superiority of many of 
the old sepulchral inscriptions. 
Ining, Sketch-Book, p. 215. 
13. To appear to: as, how does it strike youT 
Now, Mrs. Dangle, didn't you say it struck you in the 
same light ? Sheridan, The Critic, i. 1. 
When earth breaks up and Heaven expands. 
How will the change strike me and you, 
In the house not made with hands? 
Browning, By the Fireside. 
14. To fall into; assume: as, to strike an atti- 
tude. 
No sooner had the horses struck a canter than Gibbie's 
jack-boots . . . began to play alternately against the 
horse s flanks. Scott, Old Mortality, iii. 
15. To give a blow to; smite; hit; collide with; 
impinge upon. See to strike down, off, out, etc., 
below. 
The servants did strike him with the palms of their 
hands. Mark xiv gg 
He at Philippi kept 
His sword e'en like a dancer ; while I struck 
The lean and wrinkled Cassius. 
Shak., A. and C., iii. 11. 86. 
The laird strak her on the mouth. 
Till she spat out o' blude. 
Laird of Wariettoun (Child's Ballads, III. 110). 
16. To attack; assail; set upon. 
That was the lawe of lewes, 
That what woman were in auoutrie taken, were she riche 
or pore, 
With stones men shulde hir stryke, and stone hir to deth. 
Piers Plowman (B), xii. 77. 
The red pestilence strike all trades in Rome ! 
Shak., Cor., Iv. 1. IS. 
Death struck them in those Shapes again, 
As once he did when they were Men. 
Prior, Turtle and Sparrow. 
17. To assail or overcome, as with some occult 
influence, agency, or power; smite; shock; 
blast. 
I will go study mischief. 
And put a look on, arm'd with all my cunnings 
Shall meet him like a basilisk, and strike him. 
Fletcher (and another), False One, iv. 2. 
About Maidstone in Kent, a certain Monster was found 
strucken with the Lightning, which Monster had a Head 
like an Asa. Baker, Chronicles, p. 75. 
Even brave men have been struck with this involuntary 
trembling upon going into battle for the first time, the 
series of sensations commencing with the boom of the yet 
distant cannon. 
J. M. Carnochan, Operative Surgery, p. 109. 
18. To knock; dash: as, to strike one's foot 
against a stone. 
He struck his hand upon his breast, 
And kiss'd the fatal knife. Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1842. 
19. To deal or inflict: with blow, stroke, or a 
similar word as object. 
Hadst thon foxship 
lo banish him that struck more blows for Rome 
Than thou hast spoken words? Shak., Cor., iv. 2. 19. 
Not riot, but valour, not fancy, but policy, must strike 
the stroke. Q. Haney, Four Letters. 
Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow 
Byron, Childe Harold, ii. 76. 
20. To produce by blows or strokes: as, to 
strike fire ; to strike a light. 
War is a Fire struck in the Devil's tinder-box. 
Howell, Letters, ii. 43. 
21. To cause to ignite by friction : as, to strike 
a match. 22. To tap; broach; draw liquor 
from: as, to strike a cask. 
Strike the vessels, ho ! 
Here is to Csesar! Shak., A. and C., ii. 7. 103. 
23f. To take forcibly or fraudulently; steal: 
as, to strike money. [Slang.] 
Now we haue well bousd, let vs strike some chete. Now 
we haue well dronke, let vs steale some thing. 
Bp. JBarle, Micro-cosmographie, App. 
strike 
24. To bring suddenly and completely into 
some specified state, by or as by a swift, sharp 
blow or stroke : as, to strike one dumb. 
S. Paule was himselfe sore against Christ, til Christ 
gaue him a great fal, and threw him to the ground and 
strakc him starke blind. 
Sir T. More, Cumfort against Tribulation (1573), fol. 11. 
Oh, hard news ! it frets all my blood, 
And strikes me stitfe with horrour and amazement 
Ueywood, Fair Maid of the West (Works, ed. 1874, II. 398). 
In view of the amazed town and camp 
He strake him dead, and brought Peralta off. 
Fletcher (and another), Love's Cure, i. 1. 
25. To pierce ; stab. 
Yet when the tother answered him that there was in 
euery mans mouth spoke of him much shame, it so ttrake 
him to yc heart that w' in fewe daies after he withered * 
consumed away. Sir T. More, Rich. III. (Works, p. 61 f). 
For I hit him not in vaine as Artagerses did, but full in 
the forehead hard by the eye, and strake him through and 
through his head againe, and so overthrew him, of which 
North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 792. 
26. To produce with sudden force ; effect sud- 
denly and forcibly; cause to enter. 
It cannot be this weak and writhled shrimp 
Should strike such terror to his enemies 
fhak., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 3. 24. 
Bring out the lady : she can quell this mutiny, 
And with her powerful looks strilre awe into them. 
Fletcher (and another). False One, iv. 5. 
Waving wide her myrtle wand, 
She strikes a universal peace through sea and! land. 
Milton, Nativity, 1. 52. 
27. To stamp with a stroke; impress; hence, 
to mint ; coin : as, to strike coin at the mint. 
The princes who struck these medals, says Eugenius, 
seem to have designed them rather as an ostentation of 
their wealth than of their virtues. 
Addison, Ancient Medals, ill. 
Here they are thirty good Harry groats as ever were 
struck in bluff old Hal's time. Scott, Abbot, Tii. 
28. To cause to enter or penetrate; thrust: as, 
a tree strikes its roots deep. 
Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, 
Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms 
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary. 
Shak., Lear, ii. 8. 16. 
29. To cause to sound ; announce by sound : 
as, the clock strikes twelve; hence, to begin to 
beat or play upon, as a drum or other instru- 
ment ; begin to sing or play, as a song or tune : 
often with up. 
Strike up the drums. Shot., K. John, v. 2. 179. 
Strike the Lyre upon an untry'd String. 
Congrece, Taking of Namure. 
When the college clock struck two, Hogg would rise in 
spite of Shelley's entreaty or remonstrance, and retire for 
the night. E. Dowden, Shelley, I. 7. 
30. To make; effect; conclude; ratify: as, to 
strike a bargain . [Compare the Latin fadvs fe- 
rire, to strike a treaty ; also the phrase to strike 
hands.] 
The rest strike truce, and let loue scale firm leagues twlxt 
Greece and Troy. Chapman. Iliad, iii. 98. 
A bargain was struck; a sixpence was broken ; and all 
the arrangements were made for the voyage. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xvi. 
Be admonished, by what you already see, not to strike 
leagues of friendship with cheap persons, where no friend- 
ship can be. Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 195. 
31. To cease, stop, quit, or knock off as a coer- 
cive measure : as, to strike work. 
I never heard of authors strikingwork, as the mechanics 
call it, until their masters the booksellers should increase 
their pay. Scott, in Lockhart's Life, xi. 
Don't yo think I can keep three people ... on sixteen 
shillings a week ? Dun yo think it 's for mysel' I'm striking 
work at this time? Mrs. Gaskell, North and South, xvil 
32. To make a sudden and pressing demand 
upon; especially, to make such a demand suc- 
cessfully : as, to strike a friend for fifty dollars. 
[Colloq.] 33f. To match, as the stock and 
counterstock of a tally (see tally) ; hence, to 
unite; join. 
Ill find a portion for her, if you strike 
Affectionate hearts, and joy to call you nephew. 
Shirley, The Brothers, L 1. 
34f. To fight; fight out. 
They fight near to Auxerre the most bloody battle that 
ever was struk in France. 
Raleigh, Hist. World, Pref., p. xx. 
We, that should check 
And quench the raging fire in others' bloods, 
We strike the battle to destruction ? 
Fletcher and Rowley, Maid in the Mill, iv. 2. 
35. To draw (lines) on a surface or on the face 
of a piece of stuff, as by snapping or twanging 
a chalked string stretched tightly along it. 
36. In carp., to form (a molding) with a mold- 
ing-plane. 37. To harpoon or bomb (a whale). 
38. In angling, to hook (a fish when it rises 
to the fly but fails to hook itself). It is ac- 
complished by a quick dexterous turn or twist 
