streak

American  

[streek] / strik /

noun

• streaks
  plural

1. a long, narrow mark, smear, band of color, or the like.

   streaks of mud.

2. a portion or layer of something, distinguished by color or nature from the rest; a vein or stratum.

   streaks of fat in meat.

3. a vein, strain, or admixture of anything.

   a streak of humor.

   Synonyms:

   trace, element, touch, cast

4. Informal.

   1. a spell or run.

      a streak of good luck.

   2. an uninterrupted series.

      The team had a losing streak of ten games.

5. a flash leaving a visible line or aftereffect, as of lightning; bolt.

6. Mineralogy. the line of powder obtained by scratching a mineral or rubbing it upon a hard, rough white surface, often differing in color from the mineral in the mass, and serving as an important distinguishing character.

7. Plant Pathology.

   1. an elongated, narrow, superficial lesion on stems or leaf veins, becoming brown and necrotic.

   2. any disease characterized by such lesions.

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verb (used with object)

• streaks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• streaked,
  past participle,  past
• streaking
  present participle

1. to mark with a streak or streaks; form streaks on.

   sunlight streaking the water with gold; frost streaking the windows.

2. to lighten or color (strands of hair) for contrastive effect.

3. to dispose, arrange, smear, spread, etc., in the form of a streak or streaks.

   to streak cold germs on a slide for microscopic study.

verb (used without object)

• streaks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• streaked,
  past participle,  past
• streaking
  present participle

1. to become streaked.

2. to run, go, or work rapidly.

3. to flash, as lightning.

4. to make a sudden dash in public while naked, especially as a prank.

idioms

1. blue streak. blue streak.

streak ¹ British  

/ striːk /

noun

1. a variant spelling of strake

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streak ² British  

/ striːk /

noun

1. a long thin mark, stripe, or trace of some contrasting colour

2. 1. (of lightning) a sudden flash

   2. ( as modifier )

      streak lightning

3. an element or trace, as of some quality or characteristic

4. a strip, vein, or layer

   fatty streaks

5. a short stretch or run, esp of good or bad luck

6. mineralogy the powdery mark made by a mineral when rubbed on a hard or rough surface: its colour is an important distinguishing characteristic

7. bacteriol the inoculation of a solid culture medium by drawing a wire contaminated with the microorganisms across it

8. informal an act or the practice of running naked through a public place

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verb

1. (tr) to mark or daub with a streak or streaks

2. (intr) to form streaks or become streaked

3. (intr) to move rapidly in a straight line

4. informal (intr) to run naked through a crowd of people in a public place in order to shock or amuse them

streak Scientific  

/ strēk /

1. The characteristic color of a mineral after it has been ground into a powder. Because the streak of a mineral is not always the same as its natural color, it is a useful tool in mineral identification.

2. A bacterial culture inoculated by drawing a bacteria-laden needle across the surface of a solid culture medium.

3. Also called streak plate

4. Any of various viral diseases of plants characterized by the appearance of discolored stripes on the leaves or stems.

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streak More Idioms  

1. see like greased lightning (a blue streak); talk someone's arm off (a blue streak); winning streak.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• streakedness
  noun
• streaker
  noun
• interstreak
  verb (used with object)
• streaked
  adjective
• streaklike
  adjective
• unstreaked
  adjective
• streakedly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• streaks
  plural

Participles

• streaking
  present
• streaked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• streak
  simple
• streaks
  simple
• have streaked
  perfect
• has streaked
  perfect
• am streaking
  progressive
• are streaking
  progressive
• is streaking
  progressive
• have been streaking
  perfect progressive
• has been streaking
  perfect progressive

Past

• streaked
  simple
• had streaked
  perfect
• was streaking
  progressive
• were streaking
  progressive
• had been streaking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will streak
  simple
• will have streaked
  perfect
• will be streaking
  progressive
• will have been streaking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of streak

First recorded before 1000; (for the noun) Middle English streke, akin to strike, Old English strica “stroke, line, mark”; cognate with German Strich, Gothic striks “stroke”; akin to Latin strigil strigil; (for the verb) late Middle English streken “to cross out,” derivative of the noun; cf. strike, stroke ¹

Explanation

A streak is a mark or characteristic. What makes you keep trying to wipe the streak of permanent marker off the white couch — your clean streak or your stubborn streak? Like a mark or stain, a streak in a person is a characteristic or strain that runs through them — like a mean streak. The noun streak can also refer to an unbroken chain of events — you’ll want a lucky streak to keep going and a losing streak to come to a quick end. As a verb, to streak means to dash, sometimes without clothes. If you talk a blue streak, you’ve got a lot to say, very quickly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

streak streaks streaked streaking

A streak across the sky, then a muffled blast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Annabelle Shaw is hockey-obsessed and on a winning streak, scoring eight goals this season for her team, the Panthers.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

However, he points out that the dual-listed company’s shares had been on a hot streak heading into the result and thinks that investors could have been anticipating an upgrade to the full-year earnings outlook.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Brandon Nimmo drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 4-1 to snap a five-game road losing streak.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

“Our lucky streak is over. The Big One is here.”

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

As that debris enters our planet's atmosphere, it burns up and creates spectacular streaks of light - meteors.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

When the particles enter Earth's atmosphere at high speed, they heat the surrounding air and create brief streaks of light.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Tiny particles of comet material enter the atmosphere at tremendous speed, heat up, and produce bright streaks across the sky.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Two irritating streaks of American futility were over—but the U.S. adventure at its home World Cup wasn’t ending yet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

I pull out my pendant and rub it on my clothes to clean off the tarnish, but it leaves black streaks.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

A meteor streaked across the New York City area in broad daylight on July 16, 2024, producing a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

A group of more than 100 people near the stage refused to leave, chanting "USA! USA! USA!" while a pair of B2 bombers that were part of an hours-long military flyover show streaked overhead.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

The top shatters just slightly under a knife, giving way to a plush, chocolate-saturated center streaked with melted pockets.

From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026

The missile missed but streaked directly toward the nose of Blea’s F-16.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

A black, buzzing cloud streaked from the orchard, and bore on so rapidly and passed so close to Coll’s head that he had to leap out of the way.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

Every night around the world, thousands of automated sky cameras watch for flashes of light streaking across the atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026

Palestinians in east Jerusalem regularly film rockets streaking through the sky from their rooftops.

From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026

Then, holding the stick in her left hand, Murphy slid the puck across the ice to her streaking teammate, who promptly banged it into the back of the net.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

She name-checked supervising producer Norman Baker, who she said “plans on streaking on the last day” of the show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026

He started to his feet, but before he could get away from the table, one of the kitchen cats came streaking into the dining room.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

Related Words

• smear