streak

[ streek ]

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.

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.

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.
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)

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.

streak

¹

/ 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

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

²

/ striːk /

noun

1. See strake
   a variant spelling of strake

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.
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.

Derived Forms

• ˈstreakˌlike, adjective
• streaked, adjective
• ˈstreaker, noun

Other Words From

• streaked·ly [streekt, -lee, stree, -kid-lee], adverb
• streakedness noun
• streaker noun
• streaklike adjective
• inter·streak verb (used with object)
• un·streaked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of streak¹

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; strike, stroke ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of streak¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. blue streak. blue streak.

More idioms and phrases containing streak

see like greased lightning (a blue streak) ; talk someone's arm off (a blue streak) ; winning streak .

Example Sentences

The Democratic candidate has won Minnesota in 11 straight presidential elections, the longest active streak in the country.

From FiveThirtyEight

Now, “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.

From Fortune

This year, as many states stopped sending teams to help seniors vote, his nursing home was on coronavirus lockdown and his streak was in jeopardy.

From ProPublica

Look closer still and you will see streaks of darkness cutting through the haze.

From Nautilus

The last thing he wants is for his “68-year streak,” as he proudly calls it, to end in November.

From ProPublica

Miller traces his irreverent and subversive streak to a psychedelic experience during the particularly sweltering summer of 1991.

From The Daily Beast

It was clear to me that at least at the end of his life the Dionysian streak was trying to get out.

From The Daily Beast

Was the blackface scene with Gene Wilder in Silver Streak an important step in how American audiences view minstrelsy?

From The Daily Beast

In fact, the original Burroughs books possess a clear “green” streak that now seems quite prescient.

From The Daily Beast

In fact, she knew the correct answer 92 percent of the time she buzzed in during her 20-game streak.

From The Daily Beast

But few knew of this her literary streak, as her mother styled it, for she dreaded any publicity.

From Project Gutenberg

This bird also has a whitish streak over the eye, which seems wanting in A. streperus.

From Project Gutenberg

When 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.

From Project Gutenberg

Sin Sin Wa followed, nearly closing the first door, so that only a faint streak of light crept down to them.

From Project Gutenberg

Lance reduced the speed, and the Blue Streak began to move shoreward.

From Project Gutenberg