Chapter 107

Stric"ture (?), n. [L. strictura a contraction, from stringere, strictum, to draw tight: cf. F. stricture. See Strict.] 1. Strictness. [Obs.]

A man of stricture and firm abstinence.

Shak.

2. A stroke; a glance; a touch. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.

3. A touch of adverse criticism; censure.

[I have] given myself the liberty of these strictures by way of reflection on all and every passage.

Hammond.

4. (Med.) A localized morbid contraction of any passage of the body. Cf. Organic stricture, and Spasmodic stricture, under Organic, and Spasmodic. Arbuthnot.

Stric"tured (?), a. (Med.) Affected with a stricture; as, a strictured duct.

Strid (?), n. [See Stride.] A narrow passage between precipitous rocks or banks, which looks as if it might be crossed at a stride. [Prov. Eng.] Howitt.

This striding place is called the Strid.

Wordsworth.

Stride (?), v. t. [imp. Strode (?) (Obs. Strid (&?;)); p. p. Stridden (?) (Obs. Strid); p. pr. & vb. n. Striding.] [AS. strdan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strda to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. strtan; of uncertain origin. Cf. Straddle.] 1. To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner.

Mars in the middle of the shining shield Is graved, and strides along the liquid field.

Dryden.

2. To stand with the legs wide apart; to straddle.

Stride, v. t. 1. To pass over at a step; to step over. "A debtor that not dares to stride a limit." Shak.

2. To straddle; to bestride.

I mean to stride your steed.

Shak.

Stride, n. The act of stridding; a long step; the space measured by a long step; as, a masculine stride. Pope.

God never meant that man should scale the heavens By strides of human wisdom.

Cowper.

Stri"dent (?), a. [L. stridens, -entis, p. pr. of stridere to make a grating or creaking noise.] Characterized by harshness; grating; shrill. "A strident voice." Thackeray.

||Stri"dor (?), n. [L., from stridere to make any harsh, grating, or ||creaking sound.] A harsh, shrill, or creaking noise. Dryden.

Strid"u*late (?), v. t. [See Stridulous.] To make a shrill, creaking noise; specifically (Zoöl.), to make a shrill or musical sound, such as is made by the males of many insects.

Strid`u*la"tion (?), n. The act of stridulating. Specifically: (Zoöl.) (a) The act of making shrill sounds or musical notes by rubbing together certain hard parts, as is done by the males of many insects, especially by Orthoptera, such as crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. (b) The noise itself.

The crickets stridulate by rubbing together the strong nervures of the fore wings. Many grasshoppers stridulate by rubbing the hind legs across strong nervures on the fore wings. The green grasshoppers and katydids stridulate by means of special organs at the base of the fore wings.

Strid"u*la`tor (?), n. [NL.] That which stridulates. Darwin.

Strid"u*la*to*ry (?), a. Stridulous; able to stridulate; used in stridulating; adapted for stridulation. Darwin.

Strid"u*lous (?), a. [L. stridulus. See Strident.] Making a shrill, creaking sound. Sir T. Browne.

The Sarmatian boor driving his stridulous cart.

Longfellow.

Stridulous laryngitis (Med.), a form of croup, or laryngitis, in children, associated with dyspnœa, occurring usually at night, and marked by crowing or stridulous breathing.

Strife (?), n. [OF. estrif. See Strive.] 1. The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [Archaic] Shak.

2. Exertion or contention for superiority; contest of emulation, either by intellectual or physical efforts.

Doting about questions and strifes of words.

1 Tim. vi. 4.

Thus gods contended -- noble strife - Who most should ease the wants of life.

Congreve.

3. Altercation; violent contention; fight; battle.

Twenty of them fought in this black strife.

Shak.

These vows, thus granted, raised a strife above Betwixt the god of war and queen of love.

Dryden.

4. That which is contended against; occasion of contest. [Obs.] "Lamenting her unlucky strife." Spenser.

Syn. -- Contest; struggle; quarrel. See Contention.

Strife"ful (?), a. Contentious; discordant.

The ape was strifeful and ambitious.

Spenser.

Stri"gate (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having transverse bands of color.

||Stri"ges (?), n. pl. [L., pl. of strix a streech owl; cf. Gr. &?; a ||screaming night bird.] (Zoöl.) The tribe of birds which comprises the ||owls.

Strig"il (?), n. [L. strigilis, from stringere to graze, scrape.] (Gr. & Rom. Antiq.) An instrument of metal, ivory, etc., used for scraping the skin at the bath.

Strig"il*lose` (?), a. [Dim. fr. strigose.] (Bot.) Set with stiff, slender bristles.

Stri"gine (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to owls; owl-like.

Strig"ment (?), n. [L. strigmentum.] Scraping; that which is scraped off. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Stri*gose" (?), a. [Cf. F. strigueux. See Strigil.] (Bot.) Set with stiff, straight bristles; hispid; as, a strigose leaf.

Stri"gous (?), a. (Bot.) Strigose. [R.]

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Strike (?), v. t. [imp. Struck (?); p. p. Struck, Stricken (&?;) (Stroock (&?;), Strucken (&?;), Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Striking. Struck is more commonly used in the p. p. than stricken.] [OE. striken to strike, proceed, flow, AS. strcan to go, proceed, akin to D. strijken to rub, stroke, strike, to move, go, G. streichen, OHG. strhhan, L. stringere to touch lightly, to graze, to strip off (but perhaps not to L. stringere in sense to draw tight), striga a row, a furrow. Cf. Streak, Stroke.] 1. To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either with the hand or with any instrument or missile.

He at Philippi kept His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius.

Shak.

2. To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship struck a reef.

3. To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast.

They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two sideposts.

Ex. xii. 7.

Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.

Byron.

4. To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint.

5. To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep.

6. To punish; to afflict; to smite.

To punish the just is not good, nor strike princes for equity.

Prov. xvii. 26.

7. To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve; the drums strike up a march.

8. To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch.

9. To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind, with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or horror.

Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the first view.

Atterbury.

They please as beauties, here as wonders strike.

Pope.

10. To affect in some particular manner by a sudden impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me favorably; to strike one dead or blind.

How often has stricken you dumb with his irony!

Landor.

11. To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a stroke; as, to strike a light.

Waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.

Milton.

12. To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match.

13. To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain.

Probably borrowed from the L. fœdus ferrire, to strike a compact, so called because an animal was struck and killed as a sacrifice on such occasions.

14. To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money. [Old Slang]

15. To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the level of the top.

16. (Masonry) To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.

17. To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a strange word; they soon struck the trail.

18. To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck a friend for five dollars. [Slang]

19. To lade into a cooler, as a liquor. B. Edwards.

20. To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.

Behold, I thought, He will . . . strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

2 Kings v. 11.

21. To advance; to cause to go forward; -- used only in past participle. "Well struck in years." Shak.

To strike an attitude, To strike a balance. See under Attitude, and Balance. -- To strike a jury (Law), to constitute a special jury ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so as to reduce it to the number of persons required by law. Burrill. -- To strike a lead. (a) (Mining) To find a vein of ore. (b) Fig.: To find a way to fortune. [Colloq.] -- To strike a ledger, or an account, to balance it. -- To strike hands with. (a) To shake hands with. Halliwell. (b) To make a compact or agreement with; to agree with. -- To strike off. (a) To erase from an account; to deduct; as, to strike off the interest of a debt. (b) (Print.) To impress; to print; as, to strike off a thousand copies of a book. (c) To separate by a blow or any sudden action; as, to strike off what is superfluous or corrupt. -- To strike oil, to find petroleum when boring for it; figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang, U.S.] -- To strike one luck, to shake hands with one and wish good luck. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl. -- To strike out. (a) To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike out sparks with steel. (b) To blot out; to efface; to erase. "To methodize is as necessary as to strike out." Pope. (c) To form by a quick effort; to devise; to invent; to contrive, as, to strike out a new plan of finance. (d) (Baseball) To cause a player to strike out; -- said of the pitcher. See To strike out, under Strike, v. i. -- To strike sail. See under Sail. -- To strike up. (a) To cause to sound; to begin to beat. "Strike up the drums." Shak. (b) To begin to sing or play; as, to strike up a tune. (c) To raise (as sheet metal), in making diahes, pans, etc., by blows or pressure in a die. -- To strike work, to quit work; to go on a strike.

Strike (?), v. i. To move; to advance; to proceed; to take a course; as, to strike into the fields.

A mouse . . . struck forth sternly [bodily].

Piers Plowman.

2. To deliver a quick blow or thrust; to give blows.

And fiercely took his trenchant blade in hand, With which he stroke so furious and so fell.

Spenser.

Strike now, or else the iron cools.

Shak.

3. To hit; to collide; to dush; to clash; as, a hammer strikes against the bell of a clock.

4. To sound by percussion, with blows, or as with blows; to be struck; as, the clock strikes.

A deep sound strikes like a rising knell.

Byron.

5. To make an attack; to aim a blow.

A puny subject strikes At thy great glory.

Shak.

Struck for throne, and striking found his doom.

Tennyson.

6. To touch; to act by appulse.

Hinder light but from striking on it [porphyry], and its colors vanish.

Locke.

7. To run upon a rock or bank; to be stranded; as, the ship struck in the night.

8. To pass with a quick or strong effect; to dart; to penetrate.

Till a dart strike through his liver.

Prov. vii. 23.

Now and then a glittering beam of wit or passion strikes through the obscurity of the poem.

Dryden.

9. To break forth; to commence suddenly; -- with into; as, to strike into reputation; to strike into a run.

10. To lower a flag, or colors, in token of respect, or to signify a surrender of a ship to an enemy.

That the English ships of war should not strike in the Danish seas.

Bp. Burnet.

11. To quit work in order to compel an increase, or prevent a reduction, of wages.

12. To become attached to something; -- said of the spat of oysters.

13. To steal money. [Old Slang, Eng.] Nares.

To strike at, to aim a blow at. -- To strike for, to start suddenly on a course for. -- To strike home, to give a blow which reaches its object, to strike with effect. -- To strike in. (a) To enter suddenly. (b) To disappear from the surface, with internal effects, as an eruptive disease. (c) To come in suddenly; to interpose; to interrupt. "I proposed the embassy of Constantinople for Mr. Henshaw, but my Lord Winchelsea struck in." Evelyn. (d) To join in after another has begun,as in singing. -- To strike in with, to conform to; to suit itself to; to side with, to join with at once. "To assert this is to strike in with the known enemies of God's grace." South. -- To strike out. (a) To start; to wander; to make a sudden excursion; as, to strike out into an irregular course of life. (b) To strike with full force. (c) (Baseball) To be put out for not hitting the ball during one's turn at the bat. -- To strike up, to commence to play as a musician; to begin to sound, as an instrument. "Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck up." Shak.

Strike (?), n. 1. The act of striking.

2. An instrument with a straight edge for leveling a measure of grain, salt, and the like, scraping off what is above the level of the top; a strickle.

3. A bushel; four pecks. [Prov. Eng.] Tusser.

4. An old measure of four bushels. [Prov. Eng.]

5. Fullness of measure; hence, excellence of quality.

Three hogsheads of ale of the first strike.

Sir W. Scott.

6. An iron pale or standard in a gate or fence. [Obs.]

7. The act of quitting work; specifically, such an act by a body of workmen, done as a means of enforcing compliance with demands made on their employer.

Strikes are the insurrections of labor.

F. A. Walker.

8. (Iron Working) A puddler's stirrer.

9. (Geol.) The horizontal direction of the outcropping edges of tilted rocks; or, the direction of a horizontal line supposed to be drawn on the surface of a tilted stratum. It is at right angles to the dip.

10. The extortion of money, or the attempt to extort money, by threat of injury; blackmailing.

Strike block (Carp.), a plane shorter than a jointer, used for fitting a short joint. Moxon. -- Strike of flax, a handful that may be hackled at once. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Chaucer. -- Strike of sugar. (Sugar Making) (a) The act of emptying the teache, or last boiler, in which the cane juice is exposed to heat, into the coolers. (b) The quantity of the sirup thus emptied at once.

Strik"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, strikes; specifically, a blacksmith's helper who wields the sledge.

2. A harpoon; also, a harpooner.

Wherever we come to an anchor, we always send out our strikers, and put out hooks and lines overboard, to try fish.

Dampier.

3. A wencher; a lewd man. [Obs.] Massinger.

4. A workman who is on a strike.

5. A blackmailer in politics; also, one whose political influence can be bought. [Political Cant]

Strik"ing, a. & n. from Strike, v.

Striking distance, the distance through which an object can be reached by striking; the distance at which a force is effective when directed to a particular object. -- Striking plate. (a) The plate against which the latch of a door lock strikes as the door is closed. (b) A part of the centering of an arch, which is driven back to loosen the centering in striking it.

Strik"ing, a. Affecting with strong emotions; surprising; forcible; impressive; very noticeable; as, a striking representation or image; a striking resemblance. "A striking fact." De Quincey. -- Strik"ing*ly, adv. -- Strik"ing*ness, n.

Strik"le (?), n. See Strickle.

String (strng), n. [OE. string, streng, AS. streng; akin to D. streng, G. strang, Icel. strengr, Sw. sträng, Dan. stræng; probably from the adj., E. strong (see Strong); or perhaps originally meaning, twisted, and akin to E. strangle.] 1. A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of leather, or other substance, used for binding together, fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread and smaller than a rope; as, a shoe string; a bonnet string; a silken string. Shak.

Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.

Prior.

2. A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain; as, a string of shells or beads; a string of dried apples; a string of houses; a string of arguments. "A string of islands." Gibbon.

3. A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together. Milton.

4. The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as, the strings took up the theme. "An instrument of ten strings." Ps. xxx. iii. 2.

Me softer airs befit, and softer strings Of lute, or viol still.

Milton.

5. The line or cord of a bow. Ps. xi. 2.

He twangs the grieving string.

Pope.

6. A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.

Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom.

Bacon.

7. A nerve or tendon of an animal body.

The string of his tongue was loosed.

Mark vii. 35.

8. (Shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.

9. (Bot.) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily pulled off; as, the strings of beans.

10. (Mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein. Ure.

11. (Arch.) Same as Stringcourse.

12. (Billiards) The points made in a game.

String band (Mus.), a band of musicians using only, or chiefly, stringed instruments. -- String beans. (a) A dish prepared from the unripe pods of several kinds of beans; -- so called because the strings are stripped off. (b) Any kind of beans in which the pods are used for cooking before the seeds are ripe; usually, the low bush bean. -- To have two strings to one's bow, to have a means or expedient in reserve in case the one employed fails.

String (strng), v. t. [imp. Strung (strng); p. p. Strung (R. Stringed (strngd)); p. pr. & vb. n. Stringing.] 1. To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.

Has not wise nature strung the legs and feet With firmest nerves, designed to walk the street?

Gay.

2. To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.

For here the Muse so oft her harp has strung, That not a mountain rears its head unsung.

Addison.

3. To put on a string; to file; as, to string beads.

4. To make tense; to strengthen.

Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood.

Dryden.

5. To deprive of strings; to strip the strings from; as, to string beans. See String, n., 9.

String"board` (-brd`), n. Same as Stringpiece.

String"course` (-krs`), n. (Arch.) A horizontal band in a building, forming a part of the design, whether molded, projecting, or carved, or in any way distinguished from the rest of the work.

Stringed (strngd), a. 1. Having strings; as, a stringed instrument. Ps. cl. 4.

2. Produced by strings. "Answering the stringed noise." Milton.

Strin"gen*cy (strn"jen*s), n. The quality or state of being stringent.

||Strin"gen*do (?), a. [It.] (Mus.) Urging or hastening the time, as to ||a climax.

Strin"gent (strn"jent), a. [L. stringens, -entis, p. pr. of stringere to draw or bind tight. See Strain.] Binding strongly; making strict requirements; restrictive; rigid; severe; as, stringent rules.

They must be subject to a sharper penal code, and to a more stringent code of procedure.

Macaulay.

-- Strin"gent*ly, adv. -- Strin"gent*ness, n.

String"er (strng"r), n. 1. One who strings; one who makes or provides strings, especially for bows.

Be content to put your trust in honest stringers.

Ascham.

2. A libertine; a wencher. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

3. (Railroad) A longitudinal sleeper.

4. (Shipbuilding) A streak of planking carried round the inside of a vessel on the under side of the beams.

5. (Carp.) A long horizontal timber to connect uprights in a frame, or to support a floor or the like.

String"halt` (?), n. (Far.) An habitual sudden twitching of the hinder leg of a horse, or an involuntary or convulsive contraction of the muscles that raise the hock. [Written also springhalt.]

String"i*ness (?), n. Quality of being stringy.

String"less, a. Having no strings.

His tongue is now a stringless instrument.

Shak.

String"piece` (?), n. (Arch.) (a) A long piece of timber, forming a margin or edge of any piece of construction; esp.: (b) One of the longitudinal pieces, supporting the treads and rises of a flight or run of stairs.

String"y (?), a. 1. Consisting of strings, or small threads; fibrous; filamentous; as, a stringy root.

2. Capable of being drawn into a string, as a glutinous substance; ropy; viscid; gluely.

Stringy bark (Bot.), a name given in Australia to several trees of the genus Eucalyptus (as E. amygdalina, obliqua, capitellata, macrorhyncha, piperita, pilularis, &and; tetradonta), which have a fibrous bark used by the aborigines for making cordage and cloth.

Strip (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stripped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stripping.] [OE. stripen, strepen, AS. str&?;pan in bestr&?;pan to plunder; akin to D. stroopen, MHG. stroufen, G. streifen.] 1. To deprive; to bereave; to make destitute; to plunder; especially, to deprive of a covering; to skin; to peel; as, to strip a man of his possession, his rights, his privileges, his reputation; to strip one of his clothes; to strip a beast of his skin; to strip a tree of its bark.

And strippen her out of her rude array.

Chaucer.

They stripped Joseph out of his coat.

Gen. xxxvii. 23.

Opinions which . . . no clergyman could have avowed without imminent risk of being stripped of his gown.

Macaulay.

2. To divest of clothing; to uncover.

Before the folk herself strippeth she.

Chaucer.

Strip your sword stark naked.

Shak.

3. (Naut.) To dismantle; as, to strip a ship of rigging, spars, etc.

4. (Agric.) To pare off the surface of, as land, in strips.

5. To deprive of all milk; to milk dry; to draw the last milk from; hence, to milk with a peculiar movement of the hand on the teats at the last of a milking; as, to strip a cow.

6. To pass; to get clear of; to outstrip. [Obs.]

When first they stripped the Malean promontory.

Chapman.

Before he reached it he was out of breath, And then the other stripped him.

Beau. & Fl.

7. To pull or tear off, as a covering; to remove; to wrest away; as, to strip the skin from a beast; to strip the bark from a tree; to strip the clothes from a man's back; to strip away all disguisses.

To strip bad habits from a corrupted heart, is stripping off the skin.

Gilpin.

8. (Mach.) (a) To tear off (the thread) from a bolt or nut; as, the thread is stripped. (b) To tear off the thread from (a bolt or nut); as, the bolt is stripped.

9. To remove the metal coating from (a plated article), as by acids or electrolytic action.

10. (Carding) To remove fiber, flock, or lint from; -- said of the teeth of a card when it becomes partly clogged.

11. To pick the cured leaves from the stalks of (tobacco) and tie them into "hands"; to remove the midrib from (tobacco leaves).

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Strip (?), v. i. 1. To take off, or become divested of, clothes or covering; to undress.

2. (Mach.) To fail in the thread; to lose the thread, as a bolt, screw, or nut. See Strip, v. t., 8.

Strip, n. 1. A narrow piece, or one comparatively long; as, a strip of cloth; a strip of land.

2. (Mining) A trough for washing ore.

3. (Gunnery) The issuing of a projectile from a rifled gun without acquiring the spiral motion. Farrow.