strike oil

1. To discover oil while boring for it
2. To find the way to success and riches

strike /strīk/

transitive verb (pat and pap struck)

1. To give a blow to or with
2. To hit, smite
3. To come into forcible contact with
4. To deal, deliver, or inflict
5. To bring forcibly into contact
6. To impel
7. To put, send, move, render, or produce by a blow or stroke
8. To render as if by a blow
9. To impress
10. To impress favourably
11. To afflict
12. To assail, affect
13. To affect strongly or suddenly
14. To mark off
15. (of a line, path, etc) to draw, describe, give direction to
16. To arrive at, estimate, compute, fix, settle (as a balance, an average, prices)
17. To make (a compact or agreement), to ratify
18. To occur to
19. To assume (a pose or an attitude)
20. To lower (eg a sail, flag, tent)
21. To take down the tents of (strike camp)
22. To dismantle
23. To sound by percussion or otherwise
24. To announce by a bell
25. To come upon, reach
26. To stamp
27. To coin
28. To print
29. To delete, cancel
30. To constitute (orig by cutting down a list)
31. To broach (Shakespeare)
32. To fight (a battle) (Shakespeare)
33. To blast, bewitch
34. To hook (a fish) by a quick turn of the wrist
35. To smooth (dialect)
36. To strickle (dialect)
37. To stroke (obsolete and Bible)

intransitive verb

1. To make one's way
2. To set out
3. To take a direction or course
4. To dart, shoot, pass quickly
5. To penetrate
6. To jerk the line suddenly in order to impale the hook in the mouth of a fish
7. To put forth roots
8. To chance, alight, come by chance
9. To interpose
10. To deal or aim a blow, perform a stroke
11. To sound or be sounded or announced by a bell
12. To hit out
13. To seize the bait
14. To strike something, as a rock, sail, flag
15. To attempt to hook the ball (rugby)
16. To touch
17. To run aground
18. To surrender
19. To go on strike
20. To blast, blight (Shakespeare)

—There are numerous archaic and obsolete forms of the past tense (strake, stroke, strook, strooke and (Scot) strack, strak) and of the past participle (strickˈen, strokˈen, strook, strooke, strookˈen and struckˈen)

noun

1. A stroke, striking
2. An attack, esp by aircraft
3. A raid
4. The direction of a horizontal line at right angles to the dip of a bed (geology)
5. A find (as of oil), a stroke of luck
6. A cessation of work, or other obstructive refusal to act normally, as a means of putting pressure on employers, etc
7. The part that receives the bolt of a lock
8. (in tenpin bowling) the knocking down of all the pins with the first ball bowled, or the score resulting from this
9. A ball thrown by the pitcher into the strike zone (baseball)
10. A ball at which the batter swings and misses (baseball)
11. The position of facing the bowling, licence to receive the next delivery (cricket)
12. Blackmail, esp by introducing a bill in the hope of being bought off (old US sl)
13. The quantity of coins, etc made at one time
14. A strickle (dialect)
15. A proportion of malt (cf straik¹)

strikˈer noun

1. Someone who or something that strikes
2. A footpad (Shakespeare)
3. An attacker, esp one whose task is to attempt to score goals (football)
4. The batsman facing the bowling (cricket)

strikˈing noun

The action of the verb

adjective

1. That strikes or can strike
2. Impressive, arresting, noticeable

strikˈingly adverb

strikˈingness noun

strikeˈbound adjective

Closed or similarly affected because of a strike

strikeˈbreaker noun

A person who works during a strike or who does the work of a striker, esp if brought in with a view to defeating the strike

strikeˈbreaking noun

strike fault noun (geology)

A fault parallel to the strike

strike force noun

1. A force designed and equipped to carry out a strike (military)
2. A special police unit trained to strike suddenly and forcefully to suppress crime

strikeout see strike out below.

strike pay noun

An allowance paid by a trade union to members on strike

strikeˈ-slip fault noun (geology)

A fault in which movement is parallel to the strike

strike zone noun (baseball)

The area above home plate extending from the batter's knees to the middle of the torso

striking circle noun (hockey)

The area in front of goal from within which the ball must be hit in order to score

striking price noun (stock exchange)

A stipulated price at which a holder may exercise his or her put or call option (also exercise or strike price)

be struck off

(of doctors, lawyers, etc) to have one's name removed from the professional register because of misconduct

on strike

1. Taking part in a strike
2. (of a batsman) facing the bowling (cricket)

strike a match

To light it by friction or a grazing stroke

strike at

To attempt to strike, aim a blow at

strike back

1. To return a blow
2. To backfire, burn within the burner

strike down

1. To fell
2. To make ill or cause to die

strike hands

To join or slap together hands in confirmation of agreement

strike home

To strike right to the point aimed at (also figurative)

strike in

1. To enter suddenly
2. To interpose
3. To agree, fit (obsolete)

strike into

To enter upon suddenly, break into

strike it lucky (informal)

To experience good luck

strike it rich (informal)

To make a sudden large financial gain, eg through discovering a mineral deposit, etc

strike off

1. To erase from an account, deduct
2. To remove (from a roll, register, etc)
3. To print
4. To separate by a blow

strike oil see under oil

strike out

1. To efface
2. To bring into light
3. To direct one's energy and efforts boldly outwards
4. To swim away
5. To dismiss or be dismissed by means of three strikes (baseball)
6. To fail completely (informal, esp N American; strikeˈout noun)
7. To remove (testimony, an action, etc) from the record (law)
8. To strike from the shoulder
9. To form by sudden effort

strike root see under root¹

strike through

To delete with a stroke of the pen

strike up

1. To begin to beat, sing, or play
2. To begin (eg an acquaintance)

struck on

Enamoured of

take strike (cricket)

(of a batsman) to prepare to face the bowling