26984 words

strokes

19 definitions • 26 examples
1
a sudden change in the blood supply to a part of the brain, sometimes causing a loss of the ability to move particular parts of the body:

Examples:

suffer/have a stroke She suffered/had a stroke that left her unable to speak.
2
a movement of a pen or pencil when writing or a brush when painting, or a line or mark made by this movement:

Examples:

bold stroke With a few bold strokes, she signed her name.
3
used in spoken English to mean "or", represented in written English by the symbol / :

Examples:

We use that room as a spare bedroom stroke office (= bedroom/office).
There are lots of bars stroke clubs in that part of town.
Now I've gotta fill in a section about personal skills stroke strengths.
We had lunch nearby in a trendy café stroke restaurant.
4
an act of hitting a ball when playing a sport:

Examples:

She returned the volley with a powerful stroke to win the game.
5
an act of hitting someone with a weapon:

Examples:

The punishment was 20 strokes of the lash.
6

Examples:

What's your best stroke when you're swimming?
7
something that happens or succeeds suddenly because of luck, intelligence, etc.:

Examples:

By a stroke of luck, someone else was walking along the trail and heard my shouts for help.
8
a small amount of work:

Examples:

do a stroke (of work) She's been gossiping and hasn't done a stroke (of work) all morning.
9

Examples:

at a (single)/in one stroke By computerizing we could, at a (single)/in one stroke, improve efficiency and reduce costs.
10
one of the sounds that some clocks make at particular times, especially by ringing a bell once for each number of the hour:

Examples:

How many strokes did you count?
11
an act of moving your hand, another part of the body, or an object gently over something or someone, usually repeatedly and for pleasure:

Examples:

Don't be frightened, just give the horse a stroke.
12
to move a hand, another part of the body, or an object gently over something or someone, usually repeatedly and for pleasure:

Examples:

Stroke the dog if you want, he won't bite.
She lovingly stroked Chris's face with the tips of her fingers.
13
to hit a ball:

Examples:

The batsman stroked the ball effortlessly to the boundary.
14
to move your hand or an object gently over something, usually repeatedly:

Examples:

Asked another question, she stroked her chin and shut her eyes before answering.
15
a movement of a pen or pencil when writing, or by a brush when painting, or the line or mark made by such a movement:

Examples:

With a stroke of his pen, the governor signed the bill into law.
16
a sudden change in the blood supply to a part of the brain, which can result in a loss of some mental or physical abilities, or death:

Examples:

He suffered a stroke and died two days later.
17

Examples:

[ U ] He swims the breast stroke competitively, but for his ads he did the butterfly stroke.
18

Examples:

The bid to take over the company was seen as a bold stroke.
To get a job in those years was an incredible stroke of luck.
19
an exact time, or a sound or series of sounds that show this time:

Examples:

The fireworks will start at the stroke of 10.

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