to strike
- verb
- /straɪk/
- The workers decided to strike after negotiations for better pay broke down.
- workers strike
- unions strike
- right to strike
Examples
-
In every mine and mill, where workers strike and organize, "says he, "you'll find Joe Hill.
Fiction book (1993) -
We strike tomorrow at 0600.
-
Like in France, we, we love to strike for everything.
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Well, if we strike, let's go out and live, guys.
-
The union's 88 members at Centrepoint are now set to strike on 10, 11, and 30 November.
Academic text (2011) -
During the meeting, the union representatives announced their intention to strike if their demands were not met.
-
Thousands of teachers went on strike to advocate for improved classroom resources and smaller class sizes.
Synonyms
Stop working as a group to protest for better pay or conditions
Stop work and leave a place as a protest by workers
To stop work together to ask the employer for higher pay
Workers stop work to protest about pay or conditions
To stop doing a job to protest for better pay or conditions
To take part in a strike without union permission
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
Do something quickly to use a good chance before it ends
- Informal
To criticize or take advantage of someone when they are weak
Phrasal Verbs
To start a conversation, friendship, or activity with someone in a quick informal way
Compounds
A sudden flash of electricity from the sky that hits something or a sudden strong idea
- Specialized
Area over home plate between a batter's knees and shoulders where a pitch must pass to be called a strike
- NSFW
A surprise attack with nuclear weapons to destroy an enemy's ability to fight back
- Specialized
An attack launched early to stop a threat that is about to happen, for example in war or computer attacks
A person who plans and speaks for workers who stop work for better pay or conditions
- Jargon
A stoppage of work by workers to make managers follow safety and other workplace rules
- Formal
A military action to stop an expected attack by an enemy before it happens
- Specialized
A break in the ground where two rock blocks move past each other horizontally
How Disruptive
Surface Forms
Etymology
A helpful way to remember strike in the work sense is to think of people 'striking' their tools down or 'striking the tents' to stop work; the verb originally also meant 'take down' or stop. That's why workers who 'strike' put down tools and refuse to work.