streak

[ streek ]
See synonyms for: streakstreakedstreaking on Thesaurus.com

noun
  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.

  1. a vein, strain, or admixture of anything: a streak of humor.

  2. Informal.

    • a spell or run: a streak of good luck.

    • an uninterrupted series: The team had a losing streak of ten games.

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

  4. 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.

  5. Plant Pathology.

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

    • any disease characterized by such lesions.

verb (used with object)
  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.

  1. 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)
  1. to become streaked.

  2. to run, go, or work rapidly.

  1. to flash, as lightning.

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

Idioms about streak

  1. blue streak. blue streak.

Origin of streak

1
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, stroke1

Other 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. 2024

How to use streak in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for streak (1 of 2)

streak1

/ (striːk) /


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

    • (of lightning) a sudden flash

    • (as modifier): streak lightning

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

  2. a strip, vein, or layer: fatty streaks

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

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

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

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

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

  2. (intr) to form streaks or become streaked

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

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

Origin of streak

1
Old English strica, related to Old Frisian strike, Old High German strih, Norwegian, Swedish strika

Derived forms of streak

  • streaked, adjective
  • streaker, noun
  • streaklike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for streak (2 of 2)

streak2

/ (striːk) /


noun
  1. 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

streak

[ 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. Also called streak plate

  1. 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

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.