Word.ws English Dictionary

down to the short strokes

down to the short strokes adjective: in the final steps or decisive phase of an undertaking, especially one which has been lengthy or laborious.

Adjective

down to the short strokes

  1. (idiomatic) In the final steps or decisive phase of an undertaking, especially one which has been lengthy or laborious.
    • "I would say we are down to the short strokes, down to the cleanup phase" of the investigation, said E. Campion Kersten, a Fox Point lawyer.1992 June 10, “Bembenek Doe near completion”, in Milwaukee Sentinel, retrieved 29 May 2009, page 12A

Adverb

down to the short strokes

  1. (idiomatic) To the final steps or decisive phase of an undertaking, especially one which has been lengthy or laborious.
    • "You should never count Lyndon out," Nixon said. "When it comes down to the short strokes, there's no one who can handle them better than Lyndon Johnson.1960 July 14, Arthur Edson, “Lyndon's Knack Gets Test”, in Milwaukee Sentinal, retrieved 29 May 2009, page 7
    • When the budget negotiations get down to the short strokes in October, should I cave or take the "train wreck"?1995 June 26, William Safire, “Essay: Reading Bill's Mind”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2009

down to the short strokes meaning in Bengali

down to the short strokes in Bengali

শ্রমসাধ্য

Synonyms of down to the short strokes

Origin of down to the short strokes

Possibly an allusion to painting, in which a painter typically finishes a work with short, careful, finishing strokes of the paint brush, or an allusion to golf, in which a player concludes each hole by making short strokes with a putter. In swimming competition, as a swimmer nearly reaches a wall to turn or to finish, the competitor might take a shorter stroke to start the turn smoothly, or to finish faster.

Questions about down to the short strokes

What does down to the short strokes mean?
Down to the short strokes means in the final steps or decisive phase of an undertaking, especially one which has been lengthy or laborious.
What is down to the short strokes in Bengali?
Down to the short strokes in Bengali is শ্রমসাধ্য. See Down to the short strokes meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is down to the short strokes?
Down to the short strokes can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near down to the short strokes in the dictionary

  1. down to a fine art
  2. down to a science
  3. down to a T
  4. down to earth
  5. down to every move on the board
  6. down to the short strokes
  7. down to the wire
  8. down tools
  9. down train
  10. down trains
  11. down tube

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: down to the short strokes (page history and authors); down to the short strokes (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-down to the short strokes.ogg.

Cite this entry: “down to the short strokes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/down_to_the_short_strokes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.