Word.ws English Dictionary

strike a stroke

strike a stroke verb: to hit (especially with a sword); to successfully land a hit.

Verb

strike a stroke (third-person singular simple present strikes a stroke, present participle striking a stroke, simple past struck a stroke, past participle struck a stroke or stricken a stroke)

  1. (archaic) To hit (especially with a sword); to successfully land a hit.
    • […] it is reported, and credibly beleeued, that hee did much more good with his words, and presence, without striking a stroke, then a great part of the Armie did with fighting to the vtmost.1625, Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes, London: Henry Fetherstone, Part 4, “Voyages to and about the Southerne America,” Chapter 5, section 4, pp. 1395-1396
    • “Methinks,”—said he,—“it would be no great shame
      “If we should strike a stroke to set us free; […]”1821 August 8, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, Cantos III, IV, and V, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto V, stanza 48, page 156
  2. (archaic, figuratively) To do something to support or defend (for) or to hinder or harm (at / against) something or someone.
    • You all consented unto Salisbury’s death,
      For none would strike a stroke in his revenge.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • He saw his followers pining around him under the blighting malaria, wasting before an invisible enemy, and unable to strike a stroke in their own defence.1847, William Hickling Prescott, History of the Conquest of Peru, New York: Harper and Brothers, Volume 2, Book 4, Chapter 5, p. 194

Examples of strike a stroke in a sentence

  • In the year ’45, my brother raised a part of the ‘Gregara,’ and marched six companies to strike a stroke for the good side;1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “chapter 25”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year...
  • God might strike a stroke for justice, Sir Lancelot, after all.”1958, T. H. White, The Once and Future King, New York: Putnam, Part 3, Chapter 43, p. 535:

Synonyms of strike a stroke

Forms of strike a stroke

third-person singular presentstrikes a stroke
present participlestriking a stroke
paststruck a stroke
past participlestruck a stroke
past participlestricken a stroke

Questions about strike a stroke

What does strike a stroke mean?
Strike a stroke means to hit (especially with a sword); to successfully land a hit.
How do you use strike a stroke in a sentence?
In the year ’45, my brother raised a part of the ‘Gregara,’ and marched six companies to strike a stroke for the good side;
What part of speech is strike a stroke?
Strike a stroke is a verb.
What is the past tense of strike a stroke?
The past tense of strike a stroke is struck a stroke.

Words near strike a stroke in the dictionary

  1. strike a jury
  2. strike a lead
  3. strike a light
  4. strike a medium
  5. strike a nerve
  6. strike a stroke
  7. strike at the heart of
  8. strike back
  9. strike bowler
  10. strike bowlers
  11. strike breaking

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: strike a stroke (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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