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

That proved enough for Washington to clinch a 33-31 win and halt a 12-game win streak by Seattle, which included last season's Super Bowl run.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Combined with his 15-for-15 finish the previous weekend, Mensah had connected on 35 straight attempts—the longest streak in the history of Stat Perform’s database, extending back to 2012.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Makenna Cook threw for 312 yards and six touchdowns against Palos Verdes amid the Trailblazers’ four-game streak.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

Alaska is uniquely reliant on the federal government and has a large independent streak.

From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2026

“Oh dear, yes. Oh yes, Mr. Jankowski. You’ve been talking a blue streak since we left the lunchroom. Just talking my ear off.”

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

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

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

At age 82, Steinem looked as she had always looked, only older: tinted aviator glasses, leather jacket, long hair parted down the middle with two lightened streaks at the front.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

The darker streaks contain surface dust and rocks that have been altered over long periods by solar wind, galactic cosmic rays, and impacts from micrometeorites.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

“I’ve seen how our guys have responded to adversities and losing streaks, and so it’s not a panic situation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026

But as the sun came up there were only streaks of clouds in the sky.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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

Will Jordan, his nation's all-time leading try-scorer, streaked off his wing on a superb line to dunk down over the line at the end of 32 draining phases.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 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

While these are in many respects traditional songs, this is music that hits you on a subliminal level, where a series of major traumas and minor victories fuse into a bleak worldview streaked with hope.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

It was a massive pile of silver and gold paper; ribbons streaked the pile with bands of deep color.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Three plays later, he found sophomore wideout Tanook Hines streaking across the end zone, uncovered, and hit him for an opening score.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Some of that algae has floated to the top and is streaking the surface.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

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

Over the city, a thunderstorm boiled—a wall of absolute black with lightning streaking across the sky.

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• smear