Advertisement strike (v.) Old English strican (past tense strac, past participle stricen) "pass -- is from mid-14c.; that of "to hit with a missile" is from late 14c. Meaning "to cancel or expunge" (as with the stroke of a pen) is attested from late 14c. A Middle English sense is preserved in strike for "go toward." Sense of "come upon, find" is from 1835 (especially in mining, well-digging, etc., hence strike it rich, 1854). Baseball sense is from 1853. To strike a balance is from the sense "balance accounts" (1530s). -- of "make level, smooth." strike (n.) 1580s, "act of striking," from strike (v.). Meaning "concentrated cessation of work by a body of employees" is from 1810. Baseball sense is first recorded 1841, originally meaning any contact with the ball; modern sense developed by 1890s, apparently from foul strike, which counted against the batter, and as hit came to be used for "contact with the ball" this word was left for "a swing and a miss" that counts against the batter; figurative sense of have two strikes against (of a possible three) is from 1938. Bowling sense attested from 1859. Meaning "sudden military attack" is attested from 1942. Entries linking to strike strigil (n.) -- prune; lay bare, unsheathe," figuratively "waste, consume, reduce; touch, move, affect, cause pain," from PIE root *strig- "to stroke, rub, press" (source also of Latin striga "stroke, strike, furrow," stria "furrow, channel;" Old Church Slavonic striga "shear;" Old English stracian "to stroke;" German streichen "to stroke, rub"). -- stroke, line," Old High German, German strich, Gothic striks "a stroke, line"), from PIE root *strig- "to stroke, rub, press" (see strigil; also compare strike (v.), stroke (v.)). Sense of "long, thin mark" is first found 1560s. Meaning "a temporary run (of luck)" is from 1843. * stroke -- * strick * stricken * striker * striking * struck -- * See all related words (15) > Share strike ‘cite’ Page URL: https://www.etymonline.com/word/strike HTML Link: Etymology of strike by etymonline APA style: Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of strike. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/strike Chicago style: Harper Douglas, “Etymology of strike,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/strike. MLA style: Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of strike.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/strike. Accessed $(datetimeMla). IEEE style: D. Harper. “Etymology of strike.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/strike (accessed $(datetime)). updated on February 05, 2018 -- Advertisement Dictionary entries near strike strider -- strigil strike striker striking