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.

---

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 variant spelling of strake

---

streak ² 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

---

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 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.

---

streak More Idioms  

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

---

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

That streak ended with a double up the left-field line from Eduardo Valencia, who turned on an inside slider to lead off the fifth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

It ties a stretch that ended in September 2022 for the longest losing streak since June 2019.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Nvidia stock snapped a losing streak ahead of its earnings report, which could provide a catalyst.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

It was the seventh-straight day of declines, the stock’s longest losing streak in four years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

We trudged through it, stumbled and fell in it, knelt in it, set our packs down in it, left a streak of it on everything we touched.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

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

The darker streaks contain surface dust and rocks that have been altered over long periods by solar wind, galactic cosmic rays, and impacts from micrometeorites.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

The images they captured from different viewing angles brought out different features, including brighter and darker streaks fanning out around the crater.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

As that debris enters our planet's atmosphere, it burns up and creates spectacular streaks of light - meteors.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Abel fled up the tree in sudden streaks, going this way, that, under and over branches, around the trunk.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig

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

The top shatters just slightly under a knife, giving way to a plush, chocolate-saturated center streaked with melted pockets.

From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026

But as the group stepped outside to head to another nearby venue, something unusual streaked across the night sky.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

She had scratches and cuts, and the dirt on her face was streaked as though she had been crying.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

José Ramírez drove in five runs with three doubles and the streaking Guardians overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Angels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 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

Palestinians in east Jerusalem regularly film rockets streaking through the sky from their rooftops.

From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 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

Then we both laughed, tears streaking our muddy faces.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

• smear