▸ strike off PHRASAL VERB [usu passive] If someone such as a doctor or lawyer is struck off , their name is removed from the official register and they are not allowed to do medical or legal work any more. [BRIT ] □ [be V -ed P ] …a company lawyer who had been struck off for dishonest practices. □ [be V -ed P ] He could be struck off the medical register.
▸ strike out
1 PHRASAL VERB If you strike out , you begin to do something different, often because you want to become more independent. □ [V P ] She wanted me to strike out on my own, buy a business. □ [V P ] …a desire to make changes and to strike out in new directions.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you strike out at someone, you hit, attack, or speak angrily to them. □ [V P + at ] He seemed always ready to strike out at anyone and for any cause. □ [V P ] Frampton struck out blindly, hitting not Waddington, but an elderly man.
3 PHRASAL VERB If someone strikes out , they fail. [AM , INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] He was the firm's second lawyer. The first one had struck out completely.
4 → see also strike 19
▸ strike up
1 PHRASAL VERB When you strike up a conversation or friendship with someone, you begin one. [WRITTEN ] □ [V P n] I trailed her into Penney's and struck up a conversation.
2 PHRASAL VERB When musicians strike up a piece of music, or when music strikes up , the music begins. □ [V P n] And then the orchestra struck up the National Anthem. □ [V P ] The band struck up, and riders paraded round the ring. SYNONYMS strike NOUN 1
walkout: They organized a walkout.
industrial action: Prison officers have decided to take industrial action.
mutiny: They were shot yesterday after being convicted of mutiny and high treason. VERB 3
hit: She hit him hard across his left arm.
smack: She smacked me on the side of the head.
thump: He thumped my shoulder affectionately, nearly knocking me over.
slap: I slapped him hard across the face.
stri ke-breaker (strike-breakers ) also strikebreaker N‑COUNT A strike-breaker is a person who continues to work during a strike, or someone who takes over the work of a person who is on strike.
strik|er /stra I kə r / (strikers )
1 N‑COUNT In football and some other team sports, a striker is a player who mainly attacks and scores goals, rather than defends. □ …and the England striker scored his sixth goal of the season.
2 → see also strike
strik|ing ◆◇◇ /stra I k I ŋ/
1 ADJ Something that is striking is very noticeable or unusual. □ The most striking feature of those statistics is the high proportion of suicides. □ He bears a striking resemblance to Lenin. ● strik|ing|ly ADV [usu ADV adj] □ In one respect, however, the men really were strikingly similar. □ …a strikingly handsome man.
2 ADJ Someone who is striking is very attractive, in a noticeable way. □ She was a striking woman with long blonde hair.
3 → see also strike
Strim|mer /str I mə r / (Strimmers ) N‑COUNT A Strimmer is an electric tool used for cutting long grass or grass at the edge of a lawn. It cuts the grass with a piece of plastic cord which goes round very fast. [TRADEMARK ]
string ◆◇◇ /str I ŋ/ (strings , stringing , strung )
1 N‑VAR String is thin rope made of twisted threads, used for tying things together or tying up parcels. □ He held out a small bag tied with string. □ …a shiny metallic coin on a string.
2 N‑COUNT A string of things is a number of them on a piece of string, thread, or wire. □ [+ of ] She wore a string of pearls around her neck. □ [+ of ] …a string of fairy lights.
3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A string of places or objects is a number of them that form a line. □ [+ of ] The landscape is broken only by a string of villages. □ [+ of ] A string of five rowing boats set out from the opposite bank.
4 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A string of similar events is a series of them that happen one after the other. □ [+ of ] The incident was the latest in a string of attacks.
5 N‑COUNT The strings on a musical instrument such as a violin or guitar are the thin pieces of wire or nylon stretched across it that make sounds when the instrument is played. □ He went off to change a guitar string. □ …a twenty-one-string harp.
6 N‑PLURAL [oft N n] The strings are the section of an orchestra which consists of stringed instruments played with a bow. □ The strings provided a melodic background to the passages played by the soloist. □ There was a 20-member string section.
7 N‑COUNT In computing, a string is a particular series of letters, numbers, symbols, or spaces, for example a word or phrase that you want to search for in a document.
8 VERB If you string something somewhere, you hang it up between two or more objects. □ [V n prep/adv] He had strung a banner across the wall. ● PHRASAL VERB String up means the same as string . □ [V P n] People were stringing up decorations on the fronts of their homes. [Also V n P ]