noun1. the act or an instance of striking; a blow, knock, or hit
2. a sudden action, movement, or occurrence
a stroke of luck
3. a brilliant or inspired act or feat
a stroke of genius
4. pathology apoplexy; rupture of a blood vessel in the brain resulting in loss of consciousness, often followed by paralysis, or embolism or thrombosis affecting a cerebral vessel
5. a. the striking of a clock
b. the hour registered by the striking of a clock
on the stroke of three
6. a mark, flourish, or line made by a writing implement
7. another name for solidus, used esp when dictating or reading aloud
8. a light touch or caress, as with the fingers
9. a pulsation, esp of the heart
10. a single complete movement or one of a series of complete movements
11. sport the act or manner of striking the ball with a racket, club, bat, etc
12. any one of the repeated movements used by a swimmer to propel himself or herself through the water
13. a manner of swimming, esp one of several named styles such as the crawl or butterfly
14. a. any one of a series of linear movements of a reciprocating part, such as a piston
b. the distance travelled by such a part from one end of its movement to the other
15. a single pull on an oar or oars in rowing
16. manner or style of rowing
17. the oarsman who sits nearest the stern of a shell, facing the cox, and sets the rate of striking for the rest of the crew
18. US informal a compliment or comment that enhances a person's self-esteem
19. (modifier) slang, mainly US pornographic; masturbatory
stroke magazines
20. a stroke
21. off one's stroke
22. on the stroke of
verb23. (transitive) to touch, brush, or caress lightly or gently
24. (transitive) to mark a line or a stroke on or through
25. to act as the stroke of (a racing shell)
26. (transitive) sport to strike (a ball) with a smooth swinging blow
27. (transitive) US and Canadian informal to handle or influence (someone) with care, using persuasion, flattery, etc