downstroke

American  

[doun-strohk] / ˈdaʊnˌstroʊk /

noun

1. a downward stroke, as of a machine part, piston, or the like.

2. a downward stroke in writing, often heavier and darker than an upward stroke.

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Etymology

Origin of downstroke

First recorded in 1850–55; down ¹ + stroke ¹

Example Sentences

We wrote it on acoustic guitar, but we already had the downstrokes that you could tell were gonna be power chords.

From Los Angeles Times

For Ms. Reid, crafting elegant words with her pens is not just an artistic practice, but a physical one, with a meditative rhythm of upstrokes and downstrokes.

From New York Times

The NBC broadcast picked up audio of a spectator yelling during Fish’s downstroke, and the shot was hooked right into the trees.

From Los Angeles Times

The crowd soundtrack them with a few loud woahs ... so he teases them by stalling theatrically on the downstroke.

From The Guardian

In our hippogriff, the muscles of the back drive the upstroke, and the muscles of the chest power the downstroke, just as in living bats and long-extinct pterosaurs.

From Scientific American