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 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 ² British  

/ striːk /

noun

1. a variant spelling of strake

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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

During that part of the campaign, Canada ended England's near four-year winning streak with a nail-biting 26-26 draw at Sandy Park in Exeter.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Chip stocks are on track to fall for a seventh consecutive day, their longest losing streak since May 2025.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Chip stocks haven’t suffered a losing streak like this in almost a year and a half.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

Gold futures rose to end the week modestly higher and snapped a two-week losing streak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Once I see a streak, but it’s gone before I can even think to throw and by then it’s too late.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

And amid the doomsaying, streaks of contrarian optimism are starting to emerge.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

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

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

Romina, the more rebellious of the two, had bleached streaks in her long, dark hair, which she would often leave uncovered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

One of the more remarkable streaks in the history of this nearly century-old racetrack is still alive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

“He walked up slowly,” remembered Buzz, “filthy in ash, arms and shirt caked gray. We were all gray—Adam with streaks down his cheeks where tears had run and dried.”

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

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

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

Trump stood to attention as the "Star Spangled Banner" played and even attempted a greeting in Turkish -- before Turkish fighter jets streaked overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke.

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

In many ways, the scene was set in the build-up to the game as lightning streaked across the sky on a rainy evening in Mexico, with the weather delaying kick-off by an hour.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

That night, Bertha made grilled cheese sandwiches and potato salad for supper, and then we sat out on the porch under the orange sky streaked with gray-blue clouds.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

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

And he delivered sensationally, streaking away from the field in the backstroke and breaststroke legs before closing it out in the freestyle.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 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

Then, holding the stick in her left hand, Murphy slid the puck across the ice to her streaking teammate, who promptly banged it into the back of the net.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026

Both of their avatars shot off like rocket ships, streaking the cloudless sky with white contrails.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• smear