Word.ws English Dictionary

strikes someone when they are down

strikes someone when they are down is the third-person singular simple present indicative of strike someone when they are down.

Meaning of strike someone when they are down

Verb

strike someone when they are down (third-person singular simple present strikes someone when they are down, present participle striking someone when they are down, simple past and past participle struck someone when they were down)

  1. (idiomatic) Synonym of kick someone when they are down (“make things worse for someone in a difficult position”).
    • but he was already so doubly overthrown by two Learned Opposers, that it seem'd unhandsome and ignoble to strike a man when he was down; his Circumstances making him rather an Object of Pity than Victory.1665, John Sergeant, Sure Footing in Christianity, or rational discourses on the rule of faith

Questions about strikes someone when they are down

What is strikes someone when they are down the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Strikes someone when they are down is the third-person singular simple present indicative of strike someone when they are down.

Words near strikes someone when they are down in the dictionary

  1. strikes off strength
  2. strikes oil
  3. strikes one's colors
  4. strikes one's flag
  5. strikes out
  6. strikes someone when they are down
  7. strikes someone's fancy
  8. strikes tallies
  9. strikes the colors
  10. strikes the iron while it's hot
  11. strikes the tent

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: strikes someone when they are down (page history and authors); strike someone when they are down (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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