Stroke

a stroke on the chin

Hee paſſed the vvhole length of Italie vvithout reſiſtance, […] He likevviſe entred and vvonne (in effect) the vvhole Kingdome of Naples it ſelfe, vvithout ſtriking ſtroke.

But becauſe amongſt many ſtroaks, vvhich our eyes, eares, and other organs receive from external bodies, the predominant onely is ſenſible; therefore the light of the Sun being predominant, vve are not affected vvith the action of the ſtarrs.

[A]fter the impulſive force, vvhich drove them upvvard, grevv languid, nor vvas there any other ſtroak, vvhich might toſſe them that vvay, the Atoms themſelves, endeavouring to go dovvn again, met vvith obſacles from others, vvhereupon they flevv about vvith greater activity, […]

With many a wanton stroke / Her feet disperse the powd'ry snow / That rises up like smoke.

Singapore plans to cane scammers and scam mules, with mandatory caning of at least six strokes for scammers and discretionary caning for mules.

Their mightie ſtrokes their haberieons diſmayld, / And naked made each others manly ſpalles; […]

No Perſon vvas puniſhed by Bonds, Strokes, or Death, vvithout the Judgment and Sentence of the Druids: […]

Side by side they fought (the Lucies / Were a line for valour fam'd) / And where'er their strokes alighted / There the Saracens were tam'd.

When this idea intruded on the train of romantic visions which agitated him, it was like the sharp stroke of the harpoon, which awakens the whale from torpidity into violent action.

The men who held the ropes were French soldiers, and by broken Italian phrases and strokes from the knotted end of a rope, they from time to time stimulated their prisoners to beg.

[W]hen a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor, to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a ſtroke with the axe to cut downe the tree, and the head ſlippeth from the helue, and lighteth vpon his neighbour that he die, he ſhall flee vnto one of thoſe cities, and liue: […]

VVith lifted Arms they order ev'ry Blovv, / And chime their ſounding Hammers in a Rovv; / VVith ſtrokes of Anvils Ætna groans belovv.

But now no stroke of woodman / Is heard by Auser's rill; […]

on the stroke of midnight

Expect the second [ghost] on the next night at the same hour. The third upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!

Already guarding a 1–0 lead from the first leg, Blackpool inched further ahead when Stephen Dobbie scored from an acute angle on the stroke of half-time. The game appeared to be completely beyond Birmingham's reach three minutes into the second period when Matt Phillips reacted quickly to bundle the ball past Colin Doyle and off a post.

the stroke of a bird’s wing in flying

butterfly stroke

Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.

[I]n true marriage lies / Nor equal, nor unequal: each fulfils / Defect in each, and always thought in thought, / Purpose in purpose, will in will, they grow, / The single pure and perfect animal, / The two-cell'd heart beating, with one full stroke / Life.

For the pistons of a four-stroke engine, the exhaust stroke follows the power stroke.

the stroke of death

The stroke of God, Aduersyte I hyght; / I pluke downe kynge, prynce, lorde, and knyght, / I rushe at them rughly, and make them ly full lowe, / And in theyr moste truste i make them ouerthrowe.

Sheele make you ſhrinke as I did, vvith a ſtroke / But of her eye Tigranes.

So judg'd he Man, both Judge and Saviour ſent, / And th' inſtant ſtroke of Death denounc'd that day / Remov'd farr off; […]

[H]ovv the royal Bard did groaning lye, / Beneath the ſtroke of Heaven's avenging ire; […]

The Professor, treating the murderous assault upon him by Juan Manuel Harispe very lightly, and regarding it simply as a significant point d'arrêt to his gallantries towards Manuelita, not to be passed over in its portents any more than the first stroke of disease which attacks thrice before it kills, limited his arrangement of precautionary measures to giving Señor Harispe, his niece, and his establishment a very wide berth; […]

The Abp. [Archbishop] of York [John Dolben] now died of yᵉ small pox, aged 62, a corpulent man. […] I looke on this as a greate stroke to yᵉ poore Church of England, now in this defecting period.

T'encreaſe this load, ſome ſycophant-report / Deſtroy'd his int'reſt and good grace at court. / At this one ſtroke the man look'd dead in lavv: / His flatt'rers ſcamper, and his friends vvithdravv.

Tom's whole soul was filled with thoughts of eternity; and while he ministered around the lifeless clay, he did not once think that the sudden stroke had left him in hopeless slavery.

a stroke of business

["]But I'm gwine, Mas'r George,—gwine to have four dollars a week; and Missis is gwine to lay it all up, to buy back my old man agin!" / "Whew!" said George, "here's a stroke of business, to be sure! How are you going [to Louisville]?"

a stroke of genius

Among other branches of ſcience, if one can call it ſo, Mr. [John] Evelyn ſtudied Phyſiognomy, and found diſſimulation, boldneſs, cruelty and ambition in every touch and ſtroke of [Isaac] Fuller's picture of Oliver Cromvvell's face, vvhich he ſays, vvas the moſt reſembling portrait of the Protector.

Subject: Fire. Dear Sir-stroke-Madam: I am writing to inform you of a fire which has broken out at the premises of … No. That's too formal.

to give some finishing strokes to an essay

[W]here ſoeuer poſſeſſyons be pryuate, where moneye beareth all the ſtroke, it is hard and almoſte impoſſyble that there the weale publyque maye iuſtelye be gouerned and proſperouſlye floryſhe: […]

Theſame Alexander, be auiſed and coũſailed, that he ſhould winne and make frendes vnto him, all ſuche perſones both honeſt and vnhoneſt, good and badde, as beare any rule, ſtroke or autoritte, in the commen weale, and that the good men he ſhould vſe, and the euil perſones he ſhould abuſe, that is to ſaie, applie to ſome good vſe, that of theimſelfes they are not apte nor inclined vnto.

For I find by Experience he has a great Stroke vvith the Reader, vvhen he condemns any of my Poems to make the VVorld have a better Opinion of them.

Just somebody with a low lottery number, not enough stroke to get in the National Guard, and a distaste for tropical climates.

To enable any other piece to effect the decisive stroke, a greater number of facilities, arising either from the coöperation of partisans, or the obstruction of the adverse king by his own pieces, must conspire in proportion to the assailant's class.

Black gives the opponent and opportunity for a beautiful combination stroke. But his game was anyhow very bad already, for in answer to QR—R sq., which was about his only other alternative, White would have replied Kt—R5 with an irresistible attack.

suffer a stroke

A flash of lightning may be made up of several strokes. If they are separated by enough time for the eye to distinguish them, the lightning will appear to flicker.

Being gay and in prison is a very lonely experience. I would like to get some gay contacts on the outside that could give me some positive strokes.

Moreover the light of the Moone ſhalbe as the light of the Sunne, and the light of the Sunne ſhall be ſeuenfold, as the light of ſeuen dayes, in the day that the Lord bindeth vp the breach of his people, and healeth the ſtroke of their wound.

[N]either can any man be entertain'd as a Soldier, that has not a greater ſtroke than ordinary at eating: for by this they judge of his ſtrength and conſtitution.

Lady Answ[erall]. God bleſs you, Colonel; you have a good Stroke vvith you. / Col[onel Atwit]. O Madam; formerly I could eat all, but novv I leave nothing; I eat but one Meal a Day.

Rooks are said to be fattest when food is scarcest, as they "owereat thorsels" when they have too much food. The same is said of lean children who have a good stroke (appetite).

It distressed him, Joe said, to see them feeding like animals, without delicacy. Joe had a good stroke himself, but naturally not as good an appetite as he would have if he was doing anything.

It was said of him that he had a good stroke which simply meant in the everyday idiom of the place that he was possessed of a healthy appetite.

a stroke of apoplexy

Or can he desire a nobler or a fuller Argument either for the softest Aires or the loudest Echoes, for the smoothest or briskest strokes of his Pindaric Lyre?

to stroke a boat

His Majestie began first to touch for yᵉ evil, according to custome, thus: his Maᵗⁱᵉ sitting under his State in yᵉ Banquetting House, the Chirurgeons cause the sick to be brought or led up to the throne, where they kneeling, yᵉ King strokes their faces or cheekes with both his hands at once, at which instant a Chaplaine in his formalities says, "He put his hands upon them and he healed them."

The tender Sire, vvho ſavv her bluſh, and cry, / Aſcrib'd it all to Maiden-modeſty, / And dry'd the falling Drops, and yet more kind, / He ſtroak'd her Cheeks, and holy Kiſſes join'd.

The gravity and firmneſs of the mind is conſpicuous in his outvvard demeanor: his ſpeech is ſlovv, vveighty, and conciſe, he is ſeldom provoked to laughter, his only geſture is that of ſtroking his beard, the venerable ſymbol of manhood; and the ſenſe of his ovvn importance teaches him to accoſt his equals vvithout levity, and his ſuperiors vvithout avve.

It [the guinea pig] ſtrokes its head vvith the fore feet like the rabbit; and, like it, ſits upon the hind feet; […]

Softly she stroked the carpet with the palms of her hands. "Happy carpet!" she crooned. "Aye, happy the very women that wove the threads that are trod by the feet of my beloved master.[…]"

[W]hen thou cam'ſt firſt / Thou ſtroakſt me, & made much of me: […]

She gave the cat a stroke.

Not providing a stroke to a client can sometimes facilitate the client in becoming aware of their neediness or desire for approval. By not giving a stroke, the client's need is brought to the surface, where it is amenable to change, […]