Library / English Dictionary

STREAK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A narrow marking of a different color or texture from the background

Example:

may the Stars and Stripes forever wave

Synonyms:

bar; streak; stripe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("streak" is a kind of...):

marking (a pattern of marks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "streak"):

band; banding; stria; striation (a stripe or stripes of contrasting color)

Derivation:

streak (mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained)

streaky (marked with or as if with stripes or linear discolorations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A distinctive characteristic

Example:

a streak of wildness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("streak" is a kind of...):

characteristic (a distinguishing quality)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sudden flash (as of lightning)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("streak" is a kind of...):

flash (a sudden intense burst of radiant energy)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An unbroken series of events

Example:

Nicklaus had a run of birdies

Synonyms:

run; streak

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("streak" is a kind of...):

succession (a group of people or things arranged or following in order)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "streak"):

losing streak (a streak of losses)

winning streak (a streak of wins)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained

Synonyms:

blotch; mottle; streak

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "streak" is one way to...):

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

streak (a narrow marking of a different color or texture from the background)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Run naked in a public place

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "streak" is one way to...):

run (move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue streak

Derivation:

streaker (someone who takes off all their clothes and runs naked through a public place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move quickly in a straight line

Example:

The plane streaked across the sky

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "streak" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

Presentation of this disorder can range from white streaks to brown stains and cracks or pits in the tooth enamel.

(Dental Fluorosis, NCI Thesaurus)

Reaching those destinations would bring the rover closer to locations where dark streaks are present on some slopes.

(NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential Mars Water Sites, NASA)

He started to take off his shoes, but fell to staring at the white plaster wall opposite him, broken by long streaks of dirty brown where rain had leaked through the roof.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The microbleeds appeared as either linear streaks or dotted, also referred to as punctate, lesions.

(Microbleeds may worsen outcome after head injury, National Institutes of Health)

She had turned a dreadful colour, the more ghastly under the dark dust-streaks upon her face.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A quick, bright smile went round like a streak of sunshine.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I missed the beast in my flurry, but he dropped you all right and was off like a streak.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His eyes were large and blue, with brown lashes; his high forehead, colourless as ivory, was partially streaked over by careless locks of fair hair.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Her brother was burrowing for frozen pay-streaks in that far country, and so she constituted herself an authority on the subject.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The brown streaks on the glaciers are lateral and medial moraines.

(Retreat of Yakutat Glacier, NASA)