on strike

Engaged in a work stoppage, as in The auto workers were on strike for the entire summer. The use of strike for a concerted labor stoppage undertaken to gain concessions from employers dates from the early 1800s. Today it is also used more loosely, as in Where washing dishes is concerned, Mom has announced that she's on strike. Also see go out, def. 4.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THESE WORDS FROM BROWN GIRL DREAMING!

Visualize yourself passing this quiz on words from Jacqueline Woodson’s exquisite verse novel “Brown Girl Dreaming,” and then take the quiz to prove you can do it! (Because you can.)
Question 1 of 10
What does “barren” mean?
a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides.
Worn down by dullness, tedious repetition.
unproductive; unfruitful
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby on strike

on speaking terms, on spec, onstage, on standby, on-stream, on strike, on sufferance, ont-, on tap, on-target, Ontarian
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.