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Strafe

//stɹɑf// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A heavy artillery bombardment. World-War-I

    "They were unfortunate, for a well-aimed shell during a German evening strafe demolished the apple tree and the nest."

  2. 2
    an attack of machine-gun fire or cannon fire from a low flying airplane wordnet
  3. 3
    An attack of machine-gun or cannon fire from a low-flying aircraft.
  4. 4
    A sideways movement without turning.

    "We also have added a new game control called the "defensive strafe," in which the user can press a button and stay facing forward."

Verb
  1. 1
    To attack (ground targets) with automatic gunfire from a low-flying aircraft. transitive

    "These should be especially useful against low-flying planes that "strafe" infantry and transport columns with machine-gun fire and light bombs."

  2. 2
    attack with machine guns or cannon fire from a low-flying plane wordnet
  3. 3
    To rake (a target) with rapid or automatic gunfire. broadly, transitive

    "Laffey, fresh off from strafing Hiei, ran straight into a quarter of the Japanese navy's remaining destroyers, and, along with Kirishima, between gunfire and another successful Type 93 torpedo strike that tore off the ship's stern, the hapless destroyer was left drifting, ablaze, and would eventually sink."

  4. 4
    To reprimand severely. figuratively, transitive

    "You will get an officer sometimes fu'l of shout and swank, an' 'e 'll put 'em through it, an' strafe 'em, an' walk off parade feelin' that 'e 'as put the fear o' God into 'em."

  5. 5
    To sidestep; to move sideways without turning (a core mechanic of most first-person shooters). intransitive

    "Strafe — Press the Alt key and the left or right Arrow key to slide side to side instead of turning left or right."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From German strafe (“punish”) (a conjugated form of strafen), from phrases like Gott strafe England (“God punish England”) which the British saw during the First World War.

Etymology 2

From German strafe (“punish”) (a conjugated form of strafen), from phrases like Gott strafe England (“God punish England”) which the British saw during the First World War.

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