stripe1
[strahyp]
- a relatively long, narrow band of a different color, appearance, weave, material, or nature from the rest of a surface or thing: the stripes of a zebra.
- a fabric or material containing such a band or bands.
- a strip of braid, tape, or the like.
- stripes,
- a number or combination of such strips, worn on a military, naval, or other uniform as a badge of rank, service, good conduct, combat wounds, etc.
- Informal.status or recognition as a result of one's efforts, experience, or achievements: She earned her stripes as a traveling sales representative and then moved up to district manager.
- a strip, or long, narrow piece of anything: a stripe of beach.
- a streak or layer of a different nature within a substance.
- style, variety, sort, or kind: a man of quite a different stripe.
- Also called magnetic stripe. Movies. a strip of iron oxide layer on the edge of a film that is used for recording and reproducing a magnetic sound track.
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- to mark or furnish with a stripe or stripes.
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Origin of stripe1
stripe2
[strahyp]
- a stroke with a whip, rod, etc., as in punishment.
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Origin of stripe2
magnetic strip
- a strip of magnetic material on which information may be stored, as by an electromagnetic process, for automatic reading, decoding, or recognition by a device that detects magnetic variations on the strip: a credit card with a magnetic strip to prevent counterfeiting.
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Also called magnetic stripe, stripes.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
ribbon, streak, division, layer, rule, decoration, band, stroke, fillet, bar, border, striationExamples from the Web for stripes
Contemporary Examples
Those that earned their stripes by going to prison and taking the case are the ones that are admired.
Now I'd earned my stripes and I was just like them, and I realized it wasn't what I wanted at all.
Mark Wahlberg’s Pardon Plea: A Look Back At His Troubling, Violent, and Racist Rap SheetMarlow Stern
December 7, 2014
The sanctimonious, the puritans of all stripes, and the killjoys in general raise the issue annually.
The giant retailer is realizing its dream of getting into the banking business, which should terrify populists of all stripes.
I hang out with artsy theater people, with angry political activists, and with nerds of all stripes.
Historical Examples
There was black-and-white paint on his body; the stripes of the Koshare do not come off easily.
The Trail BookMary Austin
Billy is out of the hospital and wearing my old sergeant's stripes.
Arm of the LawHarry Harrison
Here, in the bush, all our tools come from the land of the Stars and Stripes.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)William Delisle Hay
I found these specimens in the same locality with the B. stripes.
The Mushroom, Edible and OtherwiseM. E. Hard
From the top the stars and stripes had been broken to the breeze.
The Solar MagnetSterner St. Paul Meek
stripe1
- a relatively long band of distinctive colour or texture that differs from the surrounding material or background
- a fabric having such bands
- a strip, band, or chevron of fabric worn on a military uniform, etc, esp one that indicates rank
- mainly US and Canadian kind; sort; typea man of a certain stripe
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- (tr) to mark with a stripe or stripes
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Word Origin
C17: probably from Middle Dutch strīpe; related to Middle High German strīfe, of obscure origin
stripe2
- a stroke from a whip, rod, cane, etc
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Word Origin
C15: perhaps from Middle Low German strippe; related to stripe 1
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
Word Origin and History for stripes
stripe
n.1
"a line or band in cloth," 1620s (but probably much older), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German stripe "stripe, streak," from Proto-Germanic *stripanan (cf. Danish stribe "a striped fabric," German Streifen "stripe"), cognate with Old Irish sriab "stripe," from PIE root *streig- (see strigil). Of soldiers' chevrons, badges, etc., attested from 1827.
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stripe
n.2
"a stroke or lash," mid-15c., probably a special use of stripe (n.1), from the marks left by a lash. Cf. also Dutch strippen "to whip," West Frisian strips, apparently cognate but not attested as early as the English word.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper