stroke
♦ stroke /str'oʊk/ (strokes stroking stroked)
1 [VERB] V n, V n
If you stroke someone or something, you move your hand slowly and gently over them.
Carla, curled up on the sofa, was smoking a cigarette and stroking her cat...
She walked forward and embraced him and stroked his tousled white hair.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
If someone has a stroke, a blood vessel in their brain bursts or becomes blocked, which may kill them or make them unable to move one side of their body.
He had a minor stroke in 1987, which left him partly paralysed.
3 [N-COUNT] usu pl
The strokes of a pen or brush are the movements or marks that you make with it when you are writing or painting.
Fill in gaps by using short, upward strokes of the pencil.
4 [N-COUNT] usu pl
When you are swimming or rowing, your strokes are the repeated movements that you make with your arms or the oars.
I turned and swam a few strokes further out to sea...
5 [N-COUNT] usu sing, supp N
A swimming stroke is a particular style or method of swimming.
She spent hours practising the breast stroke.
6 [N-COUNT]
The strokes of a clock are the sounds that indicate each hour.
On the stroke of 12, fireworks suddenly exploded into the night.
7 [N-COUNT]
In sports such as tennis, baseball, cricket, and golf, a stroke is the action of hitting the ball.
Compton was sending the ball here, there, and everywhere with each stroke.
8 [N-SING] a N of n
A stroke of luck or good fortune is something lucky that happens.
It didn't rain, which turned out to be a stroke of luck.
9 [N-SING] a N of n
A stroke of genius or inspiration is a very good idea that someone suddenly has.
At the time, his appointment seemed a stroke of genius.
10 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If something happens at a stroke or in one stroke, it happens suddenly and completely because of one single action.
The disease wiped out 40 million rabbits at a stroke...
How can Britain reduce its prison population in one stroke?
11 [PHRASE] with brd-neg, V inflects
If someone does not do a stroke of work, they are very lazy and do no work at all. (INFORMAL)
I never did a stroke of work at college.heat stroke
also heatstroke
[N-UNCOUNT]
Heat stroke is the same as sunstroke.
1 [VERB] V n, V n
If you stroke someone or something, you move your hand slowly and gently over them.
Carla, curled up on the sofa, was smoking a cigarette and stroking her cat...
She walked forward and embraced him and stroked his tousled white hair.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
If someone has a stroke, a blood vessel in their brain bursts or becomes blocked, which may kill them or make them unable to move one side of their body.
He had a minor stroke in 1987, which left him partly paralysed.
3 [N-COUNT] usu pl
The strokes of a pen or brush are the movements or marks that you make with it when you are writing or painting.
Fill in gaps by using short, upward strokes of the pencil.
4 [N-COUNT] usu pl
When you are swimming or rowing, your strokes are the repeated movements that you make with your arms or the oars.
I turned and swam a few strokes further out to sea...
5 [N-COUNT] usu sing, supp N
A swimming stroke is a particular style or method of swimming.
She spent hours practising the breast stroke.
6 [N-COUNT]
The strokes of a clock are the sounds that indicate each hour.
On the stroke of 12, fireworks suddenly exploded into the night.
7 [N-COUNT]
In sports such as tennis, baseball, cricket, and golf, a stroke is the action of hitting the ball.
Compton was sending the ball here, there, and everywhere with each stroke.
8 [N-SING] a N of n
A stroke of luck or good fortune is something lucky that happens.
It didn't rain, which turned out to be a stroke of luck.
9 [N-SING] a N of n
A stroke of genius or inspiration is a very good idea that someone suddenly has.
At the time, his appointment seemed a stroke of genius.
10 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If something happens at a stroke or in one stroke, it happens suddenly and completely because of one single action.
The disease wiped out 40 million rabbits at a stroke...
How can Britain reduce its prison population in one stroke?
11 [PHRASE] with brd-neg, V inflects
If someone does not do a stroke of work, they are very lazy and do no work at all. (INFORMAL)
I never did a stroke of work at college.heat stroke
also heatstroke
[N-UNCOUNT]
Heat stroke is the same as sunstroke.