stripes

Noun

stripe (plural stripes)

1. A long region of a single colour in a repeating pattern of similar regions.
   • zebra stripes
2. A long, relatively straight region against a different coloured background.
   • 8 Sep 2019, Peter Conrad in The Guardian, Sontag: Her Life by Benjamin Moser review – heavyweight study of a critical colossus
     At first, what mattered was the sparky contents of Sontag’s head; by the end she was best known for the way she wore her hair – that saturnine battle helmet of dyed black...
3. (in plural) The badge worn by certain officers in the military or other forces.
4. (informal) Distinguishing characteristic; sign; likeness; sort.
   • persons of the same political stripe
5. A long, narrow mark left by striking someone with a whip or stick; a blow or lash with a whip, stick, or scourge.
   • Thou most lying slave,
     Whom stripes may move, not kindness!1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
6. A slash cut into the flesh as a punishment.
   • But if there were any one who tried and could not make her laugh, he would have three red stripes cut out of his back and salt rubbed into them and, sad to relate, there were many sore backs in that kingdom.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 269

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