streak
a long, narrow mark, smear, band of color, or the like: streaks of mud.
a portion or layer of something, distinguished by color or nature from the rest; a vein or stratum: streaks of fat in meat.
a vein, strain, or admixture of anything: a streak of humor.
Informal.
a spell or run: a streak of good luck.
an uninterrupted series: The team had a losing streak of ten games.
a flash leaving a visible line or aftereffect, as of lightning; bolt.
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.
Plant Pathology.
an elongated, narrow, superficial lesion on stems or leaf veins, becoming brown and necrotic.
any disease characterized by such lesions.
to mark with a streak or streaks; form streaks on: sunlight streaking the water with gold; frost streaking the windows.
to lighten or color (strands of hair) for contrastive effect.
to dispose, arrange, smear, spread, etc., in the form of a streak or streaks: to streak cold germs on a slide for microscopic study.
to become streaked.
to run, go, or work rapidly.
to flash, as lightning.
to make a sudden dash in public while naked, especially as a prank.
Idioms about streak
blue streak. blue streak.
Origin of streak
1Other words for streak
Other words from streak
- streaked·ly [streekt-lee, stree-kid-lee], /ˈstrikt li, ˈstri kɪd li/, adverb
- streakedness, noun
- streaker, noun
- streaklike, adjective
- in·ter·streak, verb (used with object)
- un·streaked, adjective
Words Nearby streak
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use streak in a sentence
The Democratic candidate has won Minnesota in 11 straight presidential elections, the longest active streak in the country.
Why Minnesota Could Be The Next Midwestern State To Go Red | Nathaniel Rakich (nathaniel.rakich@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 31, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightNow, “We’ve had two separate six-day winning streaks in the same month—that’s never happened in the history of August,” he tells Fortune.
The S&P 500 just had a ‘perfect week’—which is making some investors nervous | Anne Sraders | August 28, 2020 | FortuneThis year, as many states stopped sending teams to help seniors vote, his nursing home was on coronavirus lockdown and his streak was in jeopardy.
Electionland 2020: Nursing Home Voting, Election Guides, Creative Enfranchisement and More | by Rachel Glickhouse | August 27, 2020 | ProPublicaLook closer still and you will see streaks of darkness cutting through the haze.
These Images Expose the Dark Side of the Solar System - Issue 89: The Dark Side | Corey S. Powell | August 26, 2020 | NautilusThe last thing he wants is for his “68-year streak,” as he proudly calls it, to end in November.
Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able to Vote in November Because of the Pandemic | by Ryan McCarthy and Jack Gillum | August 26, 2020 | ProPublica
Miller traces his irreverent and subversive streak to a psychedelic experience during the particularly sweltering summer of 1991.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy | Oliver Jones | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was clear to me that at least at the end of his life the Dionysian streak was trying to get out.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWas the blackface scene with Gene Wilder in Silver streak an important step in how American audiences view minstrelsy?
How Richard Pryor Beat Bill Cosby and Transformed America | David Yaffe, Scott Saul | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn fact, the original Burroughs books possess a clear “green” streak that now seems quite prescient.
Can Tarzan of the Apes Survive in a Post-Colonial World? | Ted Gioia | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn fact, she knew the correct answer 92 percent of the time she buzzed in during her 20-game streak.
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush | Sujay Kumar | November 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut few knew of this her literary streak, as her mother styled it, for she dreaded any publicity.
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. DrinkwaterThis bird also has a whitish streak over the eye, which seems wanting in A. streperus.
Birds of Guernsey (1879) | Cecil SmithWhen they had toiled up the bank to a level stretch, he let the roadster out, and they went through Frog Tanks like a red streak.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsSin Sin Wa followed, nearly closing the first door, so that only a faint streak of light crept down to them.
Dope | Sax RohmerLance reduced the speed, and the Blue streak began to move shoreward.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage | Gertrude W. Morrison
British Dictionary definitions for streak (1 of 2)
/ (striːk) /
a long thin mark, stripe, or trace of some contrasting colour
(of lightning) a sudden flash
(as modifier): streak lightning
an element or trace, as of some quality or characteristic
a strip, vein, or layer: fatty streaks
a short stretch or run, esp of good or bad luck
mineralogy the powdery mark made by a mineral when rubbed on a hard or rough surface: its colour is an important distinguishing characteristic
bacteriol the inoculation of a solid culture medium by drawing a wire contaminated with the microorganisms across it
informal an act or the practice of running naked through a public place
(tr) to mark or daub with a streak or streaks
(intr) to form streaks or become streaked
(intr) to move rapidly in a straight line
(intr) informal to run naked through a crowd of people in a public place in order to shock or amuse them
Origin of streak
1Derived forms of streak
- streaked, adjective
- streaker, noun
- streaklike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for streak (2 of 2)
/ (striːk) /
a variant spelling of strake (def. 2)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for streak
[ strēk ]
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.
A bacterial culture inoculated by drawing a bacteria-laden needle across the surface of a solid culture medium. Also called streak plate
Any of various viral diseases of plants characterized by the appearance of discolored stripes on the leaves or stems.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with streak
see like greased lightning (a blue streak); talk someone's arm off (a blue streak); winning streak.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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