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

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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

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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

U.S. natural gas futures settled lower, snapping a three-session winning streak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Onscreen, he projected a cool, rebellious streak that he had cultivated during his service in the French navy in the 1950s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

A steal by Luka Doncic with 1:44 remaining fueled the streak and the star point guard threw an outlet pass to Carr in transition, who collected the ball for an emphatic two-handed dunk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

Events of the past weekend suggest that 73-year losing streak will continue, unless there is a dramatic improvement from the home side and New Zealand’s standards drop markedly.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2026

I was off across the platform like a streak of lightning!

From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

Not only do satellites leave streaks across the telescope’s photographs, but Tyson also projects that megaconstellations of satellites would scatter so much light that it would brighten the entire sky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

And amid the doomsaying, streaks of contrarian optimism are starting to emerge.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

He may not feel comfortable saying this, but I’m feeling comfortable saying it’s one of the most amazing streaks, not only in the history of the Dodgers, but in the history of sports.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

By the end, I was dragging pieces of focaccia through the last orange streaks left in the pan.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

On the ground, huddling beneath ponchos blocking out ash, thin streaks of light, we hold on to each other and breathe.

From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

A photo Neha shared on Instagram showed their face streaked with ink stains.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Every visitor must exit through the Blood Room, a gruesomely immersive space whose walls are streaked, smeared, splattered and practically dripping with the red stuff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

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

Some supporters hurried to work still wearing Spain jerseys, while others had red and yellow face paint streaked across their cheeks.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

A wide, flowered bonnet covered her dark hair, streaked with gray.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

November 2026 is packed with celestial events worth watching, from brilliant meteors streaking across the sky to a striking encounter between Mars and Jupiter.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026

And he delivered sensationally, streaking away from the field in the backstroke and breaststroke legs before closing it out in the freestyle.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 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

Harry saw tear tracks streaking the grime coating Ron’s face as he seized his elder brother’s shoulders and pulled, but Percy would not budge.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

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