14.. A.B.C. Poem 28 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 272 With rede wondis & strokis blo He was dryue fro top to þe too.

1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 143 One might see the stroaks of the Axe upon them.

1677 London Gaz. No. 1204/4 Stolen.., a black Gelding six years old, with a large white snip on the top of the Nose,..and had formerly a stroke upon the near Leg behind.

1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation ii. 25/1 For a Bite, or Stroak in the [Horse's] Eye.

1701 London Gaz. No. 3723/4 His Mane half shorn, has had a Stroke in his right Eye.

c1450 Mirk's Festial 42 Þen anothyr smot aftyr, and hut yn þe same stroke.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xii. 70 Observe how much the last stroke of the Shot is above the Mark.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. F.viij With the stroke of metyng, the trumpettour was ouerthrawen with his hors.

1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos vii. sig. V.ij^v Full like a rocke in seas,..Whom strokes of water strikes,.. and beates about.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. ii. 5 Many stroaks, which our eyes, eares, and other organs receive from externall bodies.

1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iii. 33 All sensation is caused by a touch or stroak upon the organ.

1661 R. Boyle Hist. Fluidity & Firmnesse i, in Certain Physiol. Ess. 160 When the igneous Corpuscles have by their numerous and brisk strokes upon the vessell communicated by its means their agitation to the enclosed powder.

1686 J. Scott Christian Life: Pt. II II. vii. 668 Impressions..such, as did as fully satisfie them that they were from God, as the strokes of the Sun beams on our eyes do us that it is day at Noon.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. vi. 42 The backs of the ridges..meet the direct stroke of the solar rays.

1525 T. Wolsey in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VI. 403 Putting theym unto the wors, not by stroke of batail..but with consumyng of theym by long tract of tyme.

c1510 Gest Robyn Hode 181 Or elles thou hast ben a sory housband And leued in stroke and stryfe.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) vi. l. 687 At the fyrst straik with thaim he had nocht beyne.

1677 Sir R. Southwell in C. E. Pike Essex Papers (1913) II. 111 I cannot expect anything but ruin the very first stroke of the warr.

c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) v. pr. vi. 178 But he ay dwellynge comiþ byforn and enbraceþ at o strook [L. uno ictu] alle þi mutaciouns.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 60 And at a straik the formast has he slayne.

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie xci. 102 The maide of the house with her brome: at a strake, Swepth downe those copwebs.

1709 T. Robinson Vindic. Mosaick Syst. 16 in Ess. Nat. Hist. Westmorland & Cumberland Omnipotent Power might have created the whole World at one stroke, by an Imperious Fiat.

1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. iii. xiii. 232 At one stroke he had lost all his old friends.

1884 B. Bosanquet et al. tr. H. Lotze Metaphysic 236 It is not always possible to prove at one stroke that a proposition T holds good for all quantities, integral and fractional, positive and negative, [etc.].

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. i. 3 The victim having once got his stroke-of-grace.

1686 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 507 I looke on this as a greate stroke to the poore Church of England.

a1709 J. Lister Autobiogr. (1842) 50 On the Tuesday I laid him [sc. his son] in his grave at Kendall... I feared this sad stroke would break my wife's heart, but..she bore it with uncommon fortitude.

1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) II. iii. 152 The tragic death of his royal protector was a dreadful stroke..to Petitot.

1785 M. Michel in A. C. Bower's Diaries & Corr. (1903) 25 The loss of an only son..must be a very severe stroke upon her.

1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxix. 145 Tom's whole soul was filled with thoughts of eternity; and while he ministered around the lifeless clay, he did not once think that the sudden stroke had left him in hopeless slavery.

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 337 He safely resides within, invulnerable from Foreign Strokes, and reigns in this his Capital City.

1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 77 Yet were we wholly set upon pursuing the Stroke, and hoped that the night should prove rather more commodious and successful.

1777 Washington in W. Irving Life (1856) III. xcix. 806 A successful stroke on the Highlands.

1531 W. Tyndale Expos. 1–3 John (1538) 83 An yf..we can fynde no shyfte, but that y^e byshop of Rome..must thus mocke vs, what a stroke thynke ye hath Satan amonge vs? [Cf. ante, Then the deuell hath a greate swynge amonge vs.]

1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 168 All suche persones..as beare any rewle, stroke, or autoritee in the commonweale.

?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature iv. sig. Eiij^v Soch a fellawe was he, as of that gere had the stroke.

1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie sig. Ciiij Thys byshoppe was a great man borne, and did beare such a stroke, that he was able to shoulder the Lord Protectour.

1564 Briefe Exam. D iiij b Which..loue, if it beare stroke among vs, we shall be able..to discomfyte the body..of Antichrist.

a1569 A. Kingsmill Most Excellent & Comfortable Treat. (new ed.) (1585) B iij Hee knewe that whatsoever befell him, God had a stroke in it.

1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxix. xxix. 731 This Mezetulus having gathered a powre of..paisants of the countrey (with whom he carried a great stroke).

1609 F. Sherwood in Lismore Papers (1887) 2nd Ser. I. 134 The advise you wisht me to geiue him..gave a good stroke to perswade him.

1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. ⁋11 The vintage of Abiezer, that strake the stroake: yet the gleaning of grapes of Ephraim was not to be despised.

1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (ii. 14) 532 It is verie hard to say, whether nature or religion giueth the stroake to their actions.

1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle iv. sig. I2 A shall not haue any countenance from vs, nor a good word from any i' th' Company, if I may strike stroke in't.

1622 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1622–3 (1908) 17 Captaine Fitzharbert opposed the resolutione, but the Admiralls double voice carried the stroke.

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile To Earle of Pembroke sig. A3 Opinion strikes a great stroake in the iudgements and affaires of men.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vi. xii. 338 That the salts of naturall bodies doe carry a powerfull stroake in the tincture and vernish of all things, we shall not deny. View more context for this quotation

1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 444 The Jesuits have too great a stroke amongst them.

1687 Bp. G. Burnet Contin. Refl. Mr. Varillas's Hist. Heresies 41 They had the main stroak in our Parliaments.

1697 J. Collier Ess. Moral Subj. (ed. 2) i. vi. 222 We may plainly perceive that the Prejudices of Education have a great Stroak in many of our Reasonings.

1702 Eng. Theophrastus 248 To stir up seditions and troubles the worst man commonly bears the stroke.

a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) iv. 32 I..could never fall into the good graces of those who had the stroke in settling parishes.

a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 287 I speake not this..by way of censuring..any mans course; but I note this, (it comming in the stroke) according to my Text, to worke care in mine owne heart [etc.].

a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) xlvii. 10 Much like vnto the gyse Of one I-stricken with dynt of lightening, Blynded with the stroke, erryng here and there.

1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 366 The Thunder, which..has broken..two large Pieces of the lowermost Stones;..by the Nature of the Stroke..it appears that the Direction of the Blow came from below upwards, [etc.].

1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 101 Mingled with shivers from the oak Rent by the lightning's recent stroke.

1889 Science 11 Oct. 257 The attempt to obtain information regarding lightning-strokes..will result in a clearer understanding of the danger from these strokes to unprotected houses.

1767 Ann. Reg. 1766 71 After applying the electrical strokes to several parts of her body, and at length to her mouth, she soon recovered her speech.

1799 H. Lee Canterbury Tales III. 95 An electric stroke could hardly have produced a more sudden effect on both his hearers than [etc.].

1815 R. Bakewell Introd. Geol. (ed. 2) xiv. 308 Earthquakes are most frequent in volcanic districts, but the strokes are not the most violent in the immediate vicinity of volcanoes.

1599 A. M. tr. O. Gaebelkhover Bk. Physicke 25/2 An excellent Cinnamome water for the stroke of Gods hande.

1694 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) V. 195 The AB. of Canterbury, who few days before was struck with a paralytical palsey.

1780 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) IV. i. 11 He was seized with a stroke of apoplexy.

1780 S. Johnson Let. 8 Apr. (1992) III. 233 He has had a stroke like that of an apoplexy.

1832 S. Warren Passages from Diary of Late Physician II. ii. 85 Our inestimable friend, Mr. E——, had a sudden stroke of the palsy this afternoon.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 97 Soon after he had risen from table, an apoplectic stroke deprived him of speech and sensation.

1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne III. iii. xviii. 205 Mr. Justice Hare's illness had turned out to be a stroke of paralysis.

1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 316 In his later years he had a partial stroke, which drew the muscles of his cheek a little on one side.

1898 J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. 9 382 The popular distinction between a stroke and a fit was well illustrated by a hemiplegic patient who asserted, ‘I never had a fit; I never lost my senses; I only had a stroke’.

1905 People's Doctor 48 Apoplexy. This disease goes under quite a variety of names. The popular term is ‘stroke’; doctors speak of cerebral hemorrhage; [etc.].

1575 Perfect Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 31 Pyn and Web, or Stroke. Pyn or Web or other dymnes by strokes &c. must be spedely loked unto.

1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman June i. 2 In the latter Part of June,..green Wheat is most liable to receive the Stroke, as the Farmer calls it; that is, the Honey-dews.

1540 J. Palsgrave tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus iii. i. sig. Oj He can no more skille of the stroke of the harpe or lute, than a iay can.

1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer i. sig. I.ij^v Afterward the musitien chaunging the stroke and his maner of tune [Alexander] pacified himself againe.

1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. F.iiii ^v Neither is there anie tune or stroke which may be sung or plaide on instruments, which hath not some poetical ditties framed according to the numbers thereof.

1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. i. sig. A3 I had the best stroke, the sweetest touch, but now..I am falne from the Fidle.

1689 P. Ayres Lyric Poems (1906) 308 (To his Viol) Then to my soft and sweetest strokes I keep.

1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick i. 18 The Notes of a Violin and all string'd Instruments that are struck with a Bow, whose Notes are made longer or shorter by Strokes of different lengths or Quickness of Motion.

1774 D. Barrington in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 63 261 Several nightingale strokes, or particular passages in the song of that bird.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 76/2 [Hunting-lesson blown on the Horn] The Stroaks to the Field, Ton-ton-tavern tone ton-tavern [etc.].

1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health iii. f. 198 Distyll fyrst with so softe a fyre, that fowre musycall strokes may be made, betweene droppe, and droppe falling.

1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. F.iiii ^v The naturall course of most English verses seemeth to run vppon the olde Iambicke stroake.

1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 9 Phi. What is a stroke? Ma. It is a successiue motion of the hand, directing the quantitie of euery note & rest in the song, with equall measure..: this they make three folde, more, lesse, and proportionate. The More stroke they call, when the stroke comprehendeth the time of a Briefe. The lesse, when a time of a Semibriefe, and proportionate where it comprehendeth three Semibriefes.

1677 Ld. Guildford Philos. Ess. Musick 33 The due observance of time is gratefull for the same reason that I gave for the formality of a single Tune, because the subsequent strokes are measured by the memory of the former.

1891 J. C. Parsons Eng. Versif. 20 In iambic movement..the stroke or accent, which usually comes only on the last syllable, may, at times, come equally on the first syllable.

16.. G. Percy in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) IV. 1687 When they were in their dance, they kept stroke with their feet iust one with another.

1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau v. vi. sig. G.j I wrought not a stroke this day but led Isaac.

1791 J. Bentham Panopticon 69 Without either punishment, or interest given him in the profits of his labour,..how could you have insured a man's doing a single stroke of work?

a1843 R. Southey Common-place Bk. (1851) 4th Ser. 359/2 This fellow..never would strike a stroke of work afterwards.

1867 W. H. Dixon New Amer. II. 322 ‘Work!’ said a stout young fellow in Tennessee..‘thank God, I have never done a stroke of work since I was born.’

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 484. ⁋4 The best Consolation that I can administer to those who cannot get into that Stroke of Business (as the Phrase is) which they deserve, is [etc.].

1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words (at cited word) A good stroke of business.

1838 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. xvii. 248 They carry on a considerable of a fishery here, and do a great stroke in the timber business.

1841 C. H. Hartshorne Salopia Antiqua Gloss. Stroke, an unusual quantity of labor performed in a certain time.

1842 W. M. Thackeray Fitz-Boodle's Profess. i A trade doing a stroke of so many hogsheads a week.

1853 C. R. Read Austral. Gold Fields 14 A little further on I met the carpenter of the ship I came out from England in, two years before; he told me he was doing a rattling stroke.

1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. iv. 63 One of those who do a good stroke of the work of the country without getting much credit for it.

1884 Contemp. Rev. Apr. 579 The mileage run and the stroke of work performed.

1618 M. Baret Hipponomie i. 20 Further he must handle his legges neatly,..with an equall largenesse of his stroke carrying an apt proportion according to the slownes or swiftnes of his pace.

a1642 J. Suckling Goblins (1646) iv. 39 How she..danc'd a stroak in, and a stroak out, Like a young Fillet [? read Filly] training to a pace.

1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica 34 Take the Bearings of a Running Horse, that is, measure the Extent of his Stroaks.

1867 A. L. Gordon Sea Spray 23 I saw him shorten his horse's stroke As we splash'd through the marshy ground.

1870 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. (ed. 2) I. ii. iv. 216 A gnat's wings make ten or fifteen thousand strokes per second.

1880 A. H. Swinton Insect Variety 175 In the pairing season..this music..is prolonged to ten or eleven strokes of the femora, lasting a quarter of a minute.

a1827 W. Hickey Mem. (1913) I. 158 I observed we were already too deep, asking the gunner whether he could swim, to which he answered: ‘No, Sir, not a stroke’.

1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea II. 220 There are however some deeps which would force a man to swim a few strokes.

1902 J. Buchan Watcher by Threshold v. 314 He found deep water, and in two strokes was in the grip of the tide.

1731 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 37 11 If instead of sixteen Forcers they worked only eight, the Stroke might be five Feet in each Forcer.

1741 in 6th Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. App. ii. 120 A new pump, Engine or forcer for raising water with a perpendicular stroke.

1840 Mechanics' Mag. 33 157/1 A popular notion has for a considerable time past prevailed, that a long stroke engine is much superior to a short stroke engine.

1841 W. Whewell Mech. Engin. 185 The engine consumed 80 lbs. of coal per hour, working 18 strokes per minute.

1847 J. Bourne Catech. Steam Engine 162 The engine should always be made to work full stroke.

1869 C. Knight Mechanician 109 The stroke of a slide-valve is the length of the path along which the valve moves. The stroke of a piston is the length of its travel or path.

1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail ii. 11 The saw leaped back and forth a few strokes more.

1583 H. Howard Defensatiue sig. Liij^v Barges which are forced by the strength of oares, haue a kinde of gate or swinge when the stroke dooth cease.

1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 40 The Galley-slaves..made her scoure little lesse than her full length betweene one stroake and the other.

1753 J. Collier Ess. Art of Tormenting iii. 221 You may scream at every stroke of the oar.

1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy I. xiii. 213 So that they might dash on board of her with a few strokes of the oars.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. ii. 202 The Owers..to the tune of Flutes kept stroke . View more context for this quotation

a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. xii. §2. 338 And he, that bending slowly brings his tarrying Oare to breast, His winding Armes keepe stroke with songs, while he the water beates.

1629 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime v. 38 I being unable to keepe stroake with the rest, was well beaten.

1651 Hermeticall Banquet 5 At Table, be sure that your Teeth labour like so many Gally slaves, keeping true stroke with the Hand.

1870 Field Q. Mag. I. 202/2 Close came away at once, and, rowing a long easy stroke, won very easily by four lengths.

1877 Oxf. & Cambr. Undergraduate Jrnl. 173/2 A journey to Ditton and back was essayed at a slow stroke.

1890 R. C. Lehmann Harry Fludyer 118 To-day we are going to work up our stroke, so as to be able to row forty [strokes to the minute].

1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 298/1 Stroke, (1) the number of dips of the oar in the water within a given time.

1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 32 In a water party he was a stroke of the ten oar. [Note A first rate waterman.]

1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Peter Priggins II. xiv. 306 Their talk was principally of boating,..with discussions on the merits of the ‘strokes’ of the different boats.

1845 in Brasenose Ale 77 Thus spake the prince, who set us all afloat, And pull'd first stroke in the old Brasenose boat.

1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxiv. 301 He pulls stroke in the Boniface boat.

1868 Field 4 July 14/2 Hall's rowing as stroke was very different to his execution of the past two years.

1898 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport II. 298/1 (Rowing) Stroke, (2) the oarsman who sits nearest the stern of the boat and sets the work to the men behind him. The side upon which his oar projects is called ‘stroke side’ all the way up the boat.

1901 Oxf. Mag. 24 Apr. 291/2 University..with Huntley at stroke.

a1914 J. Joyce Stephen Hero (1944) xx. 103 Besides girls praying put me off my stroke.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xi. [Sirens] 278 Put you off your stroke.

1965 J. Gale Clean Young Englishman iv. 167 The note put me right off my stroke. I was trying to tell the audience what the war in Algeria was really like... But somehow I never finished what I wanted to say.

1977 R. Perry Dead End iii. 41 She must have..seen the bodies..but it didn't put her off her stroke at all.

1699 T. Baker Refl. Learning xiv. 166 Isidor's Collection was the great and bold Stroke, which [etc.].

1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet iv. 413 The greatest and most important Strokes for the Recovery of the Patient, must be made at the time of the Invasion, or first State of this Disease.

1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 56 He pays..some compliments to Lord Bute and Lord Despenser. But to the latter, this is, I suppose, but a civility to old acquaintance; to the former, a little stroke of politicks.

1822 J. Galt Provost xi. 85 Before the Michaelmas, I was..fully prepared to achieve a great stroke of policy for the future government of the town.

1850 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire I. iv. 207 This stroke of policy was not unsuccessful.

1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. ii. iii. 192 It is conceded by all, that that stroke of business on Brewer's part, in going down to the house that night to see how things looked, was the master-stroke.

1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma iv. 108 For us,..Christianity [is] the greatest and happiest stroke ever yet made for human perfection.

1783 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies (new ed.) VIII. 115 If we destroy..the nature of any great body, those convulsive motions which are called strokes of state, will disturb the whole nation.

1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia VI. xxi. v. 514 Her Son, the spirited King Gustav III., at Stockholm, had made, what in our day is called a ‘stroke of state’.

1871 R. Browning Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau 94 He cannot but intend some stroke of state Shall signalize his passage into peace Out of the creaking.

1910 Ld. Rosebery Chatham xi. 238 Fortified by this treaty,..the Pelhams executed their stroke of state.

1735 J. Bertin Noble Game of Chess Pref. p. iii This noble Game abounds with a greater variety of fine strokes, than any other Games which depend upon design only.

1862 ‘Cavendish’ Princ. Whist (1864) 51 You almost preclude him from executing any of the finer strokes of play.

1913 Illustr. London News 22 Feb. 264/3 P to Kt 5th The winning stroke, as White gains a passed Pawn.

1970 P. Laurie Scotl. Yard 293 Pull a stroke, to, to play a dirty trick.

1974 J. McVicar McVicar i. ii. i. 109 It would be wrong to let Charlie go... He's pulled too many strokes.

1672 Duke of Buckingham Rehearsal iii. 24 There's a smart expression of a passion; O ye Gods! That's one of my bold strokes, a gad.

1677 J. Dryden Authors Apol. Heroique Poetry in State Innocence Pref. sig. b3 The boldest strokes of Poetry, when they are manag'd Artfully, are those which most delight the Reader.

1692 R. L'Estrange Fables clii. 138 'Tis a Stroake of Art to Divert the Reproach, by Emproving a Spitefull Word, or Thing, to a bodies Own Advantage.

1731 Gentleman's Mag. 1 84 The statues about St. Paul's..are strokes of his masterly hand.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 221 It is filled with strokes of wit and satire in every line.

1766 R. Griffith & E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances III. 31 Perhaps 'tis this, by a Stroke of Simpathy, that hurries on the Reader at such a Rate.

1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. p. x I had no notion, I protest, that this exquisite stroke of pleasantry was aimed at me.

1881 Ld. Acton Lett. to M. Gladstone (1904) 74 One of the best strokes of wit I can remember in my time.

1853 C. B. Mansfield Paraguay, Brazil, & Plate (1856) 420 The prisoner captain looked almost as much pleased as his capturer, who jumped for joy at this stroke of good luck.

1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xxiii. 179 The Times, by a stroke of luck..was represented in that war by a man who [etc.].

1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay x. 153 That lynching business was a stroke of luck for Deering.

1668 W. Temple Let. in Wks. (1720) II. 91 Your Excellency with a Stroak of your Pen, has brought to Light the most covered Designs of your Enemies.

1699 E. Ward London Spy I. v. 7 Their Senses were Ravish'd with each Masterly stroke of the skillful Stone-Cutter.

1797 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 626/2 The varnish should be put on very quickly, making great strokes with the pencil or brush.

1804 Revol. Plutarch II. 305 In acting so, he changed with a stroke of the pen the general aspect of affairs, in such a manner that [etc.].

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 745 Draperies are to be done with broad strokes of the pencil.

1875 C. D. E. Fortnum Maiolica 89 It would seem laid on purposely with a coarse brush the strokes of which are very apparent.

1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay viii. 130 The money is in Spanish bonds..it can be handed over to you with the stroke of a pen.

1889 P. N. Hasluck Model Engineer's Handybk. 133 The file strokes should not all be made parallel one to another.

1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 106 The print should be cut with one stroke of the knife.

1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 69 The imitations of the Graver..are altogether admirable and inimitable, the stroke and conduct consider'd.

1699 H. Wanley Let. 25 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 282 The Print..is so well engraven, and the workman had so good a stroke, that I believe half the workmen in London cannot now do better.

1716 A. Pope Epist. Jervas in J. Dryden tr. C. A. du Fresnoy Art of Painting (ed. 2) sig. A7 Caracci's Strength, Correggio's softer Line, Paulo's free Stroke, and Titian's Warmth divine.

1716 A. Pope Epist. Jervas in J. Dryden tr. C. A. du Fresnoy Art of Painting (ed. 2) sig. A8 Oh! lasting as those Colours may they shine, Free as thy Stroke, yet faultless as thy Line.

1695 Plot in J. Walker Lett. Eminent Persons (1813) I. 74 I am heartily glad to hear Mr. Cook has given the finishing stroke to your fine chapel.

1801 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 1800 Misc. Tracts 16/2 Major Caillaud and the young Nabob crossed their troops over the Ganges, to put the finishing stroke to the affair.

1843 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross II. iv. 89 On the Monday he bespoke an audience with Mr. Jorrocks to put the finishing stroke to his arrangements.

1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. ii. 62 Æthelstan added the finishing stroke to the work of his father.

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 2 [An agate] hauing strokes on eche side like to blew vaines.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies v. vii. 347 With the bloud they made a stroake on the dead mans face, from one eare to the other.

1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode ii. i. 28 With strokes in ashes Maids their Lovers drew.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 39/2 The Achate is variously coloured..: some have stroakes of blew, some with blood.

1693 J. Edwards Disc. conc. Old & New-Test. I. vi. 201 The Shadow..on the Dial..went backward so many Lines or Stroaks.

1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. i. 32 The white Hoof is of a brittle Disposition; and those that have Strokes, or are ribbed as it were, with white, must be worse than the black Sort.

1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 243 A fourth Kind of Writing, the Strokes whereof being more joined, and less distinguished one from another, are made with more Ease and Expedition.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 719 The drawing of strokes by the eye with the black-lead pencil, charcoal, or chalk, will afford the most proper exercise.

1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate III. v. 131 Very careful in the perfection of every letter, and very neat in every stroke.

1885 H. Sweet Oldest Eng. Texts 132 The various readings are separated by a stroke, and come in the following order.

1856 C. Dickens & W. Collins Wreck Golden Mary ii, in Househ. Words Christm. No. 14/2 She had had her schooling up in London..so it was but nature she should be a stroke above the girls of the place.

1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 153 I don't say Hynes.—No, damn it, I think he's a stroke above that.

1893 M. Campbell tr. Migula Introd. Pract. Bacteriol. iv. 63 The colonies may confine themselves to the actual inoculating stroke, or they may spread themselves out.., until the whole surface of the nutrient medium is covered right up to the sides of the test-tube.

1884 W. Lynd Pract. Telegraphist i. 27 The oblique stroke is to be signalled ‘stroke’, thus—‘FI three stroke five FF’, meaning 3/5 (three shillings and fivepence).

1965 M. Allingham Mind Readers xv. 153 I have my own feel, of course, which would be ‘glad stroke laughing at’ in his case.

1971 J. Yardley Kiss a Day ii. 39 The Truman stroke Eisenhower regime.

1974 G. Markstein Cooler xlvii. 171 ABPQ stroke 113 stroke 1. Ah yes. Is that your national registration number?

1977 N. J. Crisp Odd Job Man iii. 28 One dozen cardigans, stroke thirty-three, blue, for knitwear.

1925 A. N. Whitehead & B. Russell Principia Mathematica (ed. 2) I. p. xvi The symbol ‘p/q’ is pronounced: ‘p stroke q’... All the usual truth-functions can be constructed by means of the stroke.

1952 R. L. Wilder Introd. Found. Math. ix. 220 Since P[rincipia] M[athematica] was first published, with its two undefined symbols (or ‘logical constants’)..it has been shown that one undefined symbol..[is] sufficient. The symbol referred to is / and is called ‘stroke’.

1975 P. K. Bastable Logic 189 Later he [sc. Russell] preferred to become acquainted with implication through defining it as ‘Either not p or q’ or, like Sheffer and Nicod, in terms of the stroke functor.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 21 They..content themselves with the Imitation of visible things, following stroke after stroke.

1656 A. Cowley Davideis iv. 133 in Poems Not bright Ahino'am..Had sweeter strokes, Colours more fresh and fair.

1666 Bp. S. Parker Free Censvre Platonick Philos. 41 In its main strokes it [sc. Plato's ‘physiology’] accords with the Aristotelean Philosophie.

1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 67 Give me Leave, my Lord, to..draw out..some of the chief Strokes, some of the principal Lineaments, and fairest Features of a just and beautiful Style.

1729 W. Law Serious Call xvi. 303 He is so very quick-sighted, that he discovers in almost every body, some strokes of vanity.

1735 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. III. 173 Two or three principal strokes of his character.

1780 A. Young Tour Ireland ii. 75 Many strokes in their character are evidently to be ascribed to the extreme oppression under which they live.

1667 J. Dryden Let. to Sir R. Howard in Annus Mirabilis 1666 Pref. But when Action or Persons are to be describ'd..how bold, how masterly, are the strokes of Virgil!

1697 Countess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 88 He wrote a Comedy which everybody likes, and the Queen..found therein such moving and delicate Stroaks in it, that she would act a part in it herself.

1706 M. Prior Ode to Queen Pref. I have endeavor'd to imitate all the great Strokes of that Ode.

1725 D. Cotes tr. L. E. Du Pin New Eccl. Hist. 17th Cent. I. ii. iii. 35 Not to mention many satyrical Strokes which are scatter'd throughout his History.

1760 J. Jortin Life Erasmus II. 170 One can hardly excuse Erasmus intirely, for having put into the mouth of Folly some strokes, which seem to confound religious Truth with Folly.

1831 J. Mackintosh Hist. Eng. II. 16 A few strokes of Comines throw a more clear and agreeable light over our story than the scanty information of our own meagre and unskilful writers.

1876 G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay II. xi. 226 Macaulay..thought..nothing whatever of reconstructing a paragraph for the sake of one happy stroke or apt illustration.