streak

streak
\ \ [OE] Streak and strike are closely related.
\ \ Both come from a prehistoric Germanic base *strik-, denoting ‘touch lightly’. But whereas the connotations of strike have become more violent, streak has moved semantically from the action to the effect it produced on a surface.
\ \ Originally, in the Old English period, it denoted simply a ‘mark’, but by the 16th century it had narrowed down to a long thin mark. The use of the verb streak for ‘run naked through a public place’ dates from the early 1970s.
\ \ Cf.STRIKE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Streak — or streaking may refer to:*Streaking, running naked in a public place *Streaking (microbiology), a method of purifying micro organisms *Streak (mineralogy), the color left by a mineral dragged across a rough surface *Streak camera, device to… …   Wikipedia

  • Streak — Runner ist eine Bezeichnung für Läufer, die täglich laufen. Nach den Regeln der amerikanischen Streak Running Vereinigung (USRSA, United States Running Streak Association), die weltweit anerkannt werden, gelten für einen Streak, also eine Serie… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • streak — UK US /striːk/ noun [C, usually singular] ► a period of time during which something continues to happen, for example to go up or down in value or to succeed or fail: a streak of sth »Stocks tumbled Thursday, ending a three session streak of… …   Financial and business terms

  • streak — [strēk] n. [ME streke < OE strica: for IE base see STRIKE] 1. a line or long, thin mark; stripe or smear, generally differing in color or texture from the surrounding area 2. a ray of light or a flash, as of lightning 3. a vein or stratum of a …   English World dictionary

  • streak´i|ly — streak|y «STREE kee», adjective, streak|i|er, streak|i|est. 1. marked with streaks; streaked: »an old man with a streaky gray chin beard (Booth Tarkington). 2 …   Useful english dictionary

  • streak|y — «STREE kee», adjective, streak|i|er, streak|i|est. 1. marked with streaks; streaked: »an old man with a streaky gray chin beard (Booth Tarkington). 2 …   Useful english dictionary

  • streak — ► NOUN 1) a long, thin mark of a different substance or colour from its surroundings. 2) an element of a specified kind in someone s character: a ruthless streak. 3) a spell of specified success or luck: a winning streak . ► VERB 1) mark with… …   English terms dictionary

  • Streak — Streak, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Streaked}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Streaking}.] 1. To form streaks or stripes in or on; to stripe; to variegate with lines of a different color, or of different colors. [1913 Webster] A mule . . . streaked and dappled with… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Streak — Streak, v. t. [Cf. {Stretch}, {Streek}.] To stretch; to extend; hence, to lay out, as a dead body. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Streak — Streak, n. [OE. streke; akin to D. streek a line, stroke, G. strich, AS. strica, Sw. strek, Dan. streg, Goth. stricks, and E. strike, stroke. See {Strike}, {Stroke}, n., and cf. {Strake}.] 1. A line or long mark of a different color from the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • streak — [n] vein, line; small part band, bar, beam, dash, element, hint, intimation, layer, ray, ridge, rule, shade, slash, smear, strain, stream, strip, stripe, stroke, suggestion, suspicion, touch, trace; concepts 436,628,657,727 streak [v] make a line …   New thesaurus

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