- strike
- strike{vb 1 Strike, hit, smite, punch, slug, slog, swat, clout, slap, cuff, box are comparable when they mean to come or bring into contact with or as if with a sharp blow. Strike, hit, and smite are the more general terms.Strike, the most general of the words, may indicate the motion of aiming or dealing the blow, the motion prior to contact with the hand, fist, instrument, weapon, or missile>>{
strike at the enemy and miss
}{strike out at random
}It may indicate various types of contact from a light, often stroking contact{the light breeze struck the ship on the north side
}to a forcible collision or blasting contact{the car struck a post and overturned
}{the lightning struck the house
}{strike a man down with a heavy blow
}{the enemy struck with full force
}It may suggest several types of physical or emotional effect or impression{strike someone dead
}{strike a line on paper
}{strike out a name from a list
}{to be struck by the beauty of the scenery
}{grief-stricken) (conscience-stricken) or it may be used to indicate any of the types of contact suggested by the other words in this group.
Hit, although it is used in most of the situations in which strike occurs, emphasizes more than the latter the physical or figurative contact with or impact upon an object, usually one aimed at; it tends to stress forcefulness}}}{hit a child on the wrist
}{the shell hit the tank and tore through the side
}{the disaster . . . hit him hard— H. G. [i]Wells
}{hit the right road home
}{hit the winning number in a lottery
}Smite, likely to appear in rhetorical or bookish contexts, commonly stresses the injuriousness or destructiveness of the contact and often suggests a motivation of anger or desire for vengeance{with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head— Judg 5:26
}{conscience-smitten
}{smitten with grief
}Punch, slug, slog, swat, and clout are generally used to suggest the giving of various kinds of usually sharp or heavy blows.Punch suggests a quick blow with or as if with the fist{would handcuff everybody rather than face the risk of having their noses punched by somebody— Shaw
}Slug emphasizes the heaviness of the impact and may suggest a certain viciousness in the delivery of the blow{was attacked by an assault suspect, who slugged him with a 5-ft. iron pipe— Time
}Slog emphasizes the heavy and typically haphazard quality of the blows ("Slog them on the head with your club ...," shouted Tammers. And as the twisted knot of men reeled conveniently towards me I did what execution I could— Strand Mag.) and in sports (as cricket or golf) it may stress power as opposed to finesse{hayfields fringed the very putting greens . . . and a man had to slog and slog again before he got out of them— Bernard Darwin
}Swat suggests a forceful, slapping blow, usually with an instrument (as a bat, weapon, or flyswatter){in off moments he would swat the regiments of cockroaches— de Kruif
}{swat flies
}{swat a baseball out of the ball park
}Clout suggests a heavy careless blow (as with the hand or fist){a shoe clouted his skull and inflicted a fracture— McCrae
}{they clout our heads the moment our conclusions differ from theirs— Shaw
}Slap, cuff, and box all denote blows of varying force with the open hand.Slap is the most general and indicates a sharp, stinging blow with or as if with the palm of the hand{slap a person in the face
}{slapped the coverlet angrily— Kenneth Roberts
}Cuff suggests a blow often forcible enough to dizzy or throw off balance and often dealt with the back of the hand{it was pointed out . . . that children could be hurried and delayed, cuffed or bribed, into becoming adults— Mead
}{I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again— Shak.
}Box suggests the delivery of an openhanded blow but is ordinarily limited to one against the ears{the mother boxed her child's ears in a fit of temper
}Analogous words: *beat, pummel, buffet, pound, baste, belabor, thrash2 impress, touch, influence, *affect, sway
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
