unstrike

unstrike verb: to loosen the strings that attach the hood on the bird's head.

Verb

unstrike (third-person singular simple present unstrikes, present participle unstriking, simple past and past participle unstruck)

To loosen the strings that attach the hood on the bird's head.
- Now I unstrike, and at my whistle heard, Upcircling skyward springs my gentle bird Condemned through many centuries to search For some true Christian whereupon to perch.1859, Frederick William Wyon, Poems, page 92
- I wish I could as easily unstrike The strings that keep my memories in hood, And let them down the wind.1870, James White, The King of the Commons
To restore text that has been struck out.
- This case involves the power of the trial court to strike an answer, keep it stricken, and enter a default judgment. Woodruff tried to "unstrike" her answer by filing an amended one.1987, West's South Western Reporter - Volume 721, page 870
- I would like to unstrike the two-thirds and leave it as is.1999, The National Rural Letter Carrier - Volume 98, page 668
To cause a blow not to have occurred.
- Sare, you apologise at me, you shake hands to me, you beg pardon from me, but can you unstrike me?1834, Thomas Hood, Tylney Hall
- Ye can't unspeak ane oath, or unstrike ane blow.1862, Hawksview; a family history, page 162

unstrike (plural unstrikes)

A collective action by members of a trade union in which they appear at work but protest in some way such as passing out leaflets or refusing to wear a uniform.
- As collective bargaining was going poorly, the Union membership had approved the implementation of an "unstrike" campaign, which included a refusal to wear uniforms.1985, Canadian Labour Relations Boards Reports - Volume 9, page 328
- Starbucks courageously faced an "unstrike" by employees in the Canadian province of British Columbia.2002, Wayne Grytting, American Newspeak: The Mangling of Meaning for Power and Profit, →ISBN

Verb
third-person singular present	unstrikes
present participle	unstriking
past participle	unstruck
past	unstruck
Noun
plural	unstrikes

From un- + strike.

What does unstrike mean?: Unstrike means to loosen the strings that attach the hood on the bird's head.
What part of speech is unstrike?: Unstrike can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of unstrike?: The past tense of unstrike is unstruck.

Adapted from Wiktionary: unstrike (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “unstrike.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unstrike. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.