streak

[ streek ]

/ strik /

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See synonyms for: streak / streaked / streaking on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR streak

3 cast, touch, element, trace.

See synonyms for streak on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

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Idioms about streak

blue streak. blue streak.

Origin of streak

before 1000; (noun) Middle English streke, akin to strike,Old English strica stroke, line, mark; cognate with German Strich,Gothic striks stroke, Latin strigilstrigil; (v.) late Middle English streken to cross out, derivative of the noun (akin to strike, stroke¹)

OTHER WORDS FROM streak

streaked·ly

[streekt-lee, stree-kid-lee], /ˈstrikt li, ˈstri kɪd li/, adverbstreakedness, nounstreaker, nounstreaklike, adjective

in·ter·streak, verb (used with object)un·streaked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use streak in a sentence

Your business might be off to a strong start or have gained momentum after Prime Day, and you’re now thinking of ways to build upon that to continue your winning streak and boost your sales in the coming months.
Don’t miss out on the most unpredictable holiday season yet|Sponsored Content: Microsoft Advertising|November 18, 2020|Search Engine Land
The short-form video app’s hot streak has continued, with its user base having tripled since 2018, TechCrunch reported.
Social Shorts: Instagram pegs Reels and Shop, Pinterest’s engagement metric, TikTok’s size and more|Ginny Marvin|November 16, 2020|Search Engine Land
Semeter and colleagues examined horizontal streaks below picket fences in high-resolution images of STEVE taken by citizen scientists.
STEVE may be even less like typical auroras than scientists thought|Maria Temming|November 12, 2020|Science News
Coming into 2020, ultrarunner Sabrina Stanley was in the midst of a notable winning streak—she’d won the last 11 ultramarathons she entered.
Saying the Quiet Parts Out Loud|Outside Editors|November 11, 2020|Outside Online

Kicker Nick Folk’s 51-yard field goal as time expired won it for the Patriots, who ended their losing streak at four games and improved to 3-5 at the halfway point of their season.
The Patriots’ season isn’t fixed, but at least they avoided losing to the Jets|Mark Maske|November 10, 2020|Washington Post
So the last thing the brand needed was a streaker at its menswear fashion show, which was staged in Milan over the weekend.
Streaker Crashes Dolce & Gabbana Runway; Kanye West's "I Am God" Song Inspired By Fashion Show Invitation|The Fashion Beast Team|June 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Streaker Walks Dolce and Gabbana Runway: Dolce & Gabbana has been through a lot lately.
Streaker Crashes Dolce & Gabbana Runway; Kanye West's "I Am God" Song Inspired By Fashion Show Invitation|The Fashion Beast Team|June 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Streaker, the housemaid, too, had an attribute of a most discomfiting nature.
Three Ghost Stories|Charles Dickens
Streaker, the housemaid, feigned p. 128cheerfulness, but was the greater martyr.
Three Ghost Stories|Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for streak (1 of 2)

streak¹

/ (striːk) /

noun

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 layerfatty 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

verb

(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

Derived forms of streak

streaked, adjectivestreaker, nounstreaklike, adjective

Word Origin for streak

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

British Dictionary definitions for streak (2 of 2)

streak²

/ (striːk) /

noun

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 ]

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.

Other Idioms and Phrases with streak

streak

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

streak

OTHER WORDS FOR streak

Idioms about streak

Origin of streak

OTHER WORDS FROM streak

Words related to streak

How to use streak in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for streak (1 of 2)

Derived forms of streak

Word Origin for streak

British Dictionary definitions for streak (2 of 2)

Scientific definitions for streak

Other Idioms and Phrases with streak