stroke
noun
[ strəʊk ]
• an act of hitting or striking someone or something; a blow.
• "he received three strokes of the cane"
Similar:
blow,
hit,
thump,
thwack,
punch,
slap,
smack,
welt,
cuff,
box,
knock,
rap,
buffet,
wallop,
clobber,
clout,
whack,
bash,
belt,
sock,
bop,
biff,
swipe,
slug,
smite,
• a mark made by drawing a pen, pencil, or paintbrush in one direction across paper or canvas.
• "the paint had been applied in careful, regular strokes"
• an act of moving one's hand across a surface with gentle pressure.
• "massage the cream into your skin using light upward strokes"
• each of a series of movements in which something moves out of its position and back into it.
• "the ray swam with effortless strokes of its huge wings"
• a sudden disabling attack or loss of consciousness caused by an interruption in the flow of blood to the brain, especially through thrombosis.
• "he was left disabled by a stroke"
stroke
verb
• move one's hand with gentle pressure over (a surface), typically repeatedly; caress.
• "he put his hand on her hair and stroked it"
Similar:
caress,
fondle,
pat,
pet,
touch,
brush,
rub,
massage,
knead,
soothe,
manipulate,
finger,
handle,
feel,
maul,
tickle,
paw,
• act as the stroke of (a boat or crew).
• "he stroked the coxed four to victory"
• hit or kick (a ball) smoothly and deliberately.
• "Markwick stroked the ball home"
Origin:
Old English strācian ‘caress lightly’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch streek ‘a stroke’, German streichen ‘to stroke’, also to strike. The earliest noun sense ‘blow’ is first recorded in Middle English.
at a stroke
• by a single action having immediate effect.
• "attitudes cannot be changed at a stroke"
