Green’s Dictionary of Slang

strike v.

1. to steal goods, to rob a person; thus striking n., stealing.

[UK]Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 86: Now we haue well bousd, let vs strike some chete. Now we haue well dronke, let us steale some things.
[UK]Greene Notable Discovery of Coosnage in Grosart (1881–3) X 38: In Figging law. The picke pocket, a Foin He that faceth the man, the Stale Taking the purse, Drawing Spying of him, Smoaking The purse, the Bong The monie, the Shels The Act doing, striking.
[UK]Dekker Belman of London (3rd) J 4: Now wee haue well bowsd, let vs strike some chete: yonder dwelleth a quire cuffin, it were benship to mill him.
[UK]Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girle V i: Shall we venture to shuffle in amongst yon heap of gallants, and strike?
[UK]B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Strike to Rob [...] Strike all the Cheats, c. Rob all you meet.
[UK]A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) II: [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].

2. to borrow money; thus striking n., borrowing.

[UK]J. Shirley Gentleman of Venice I i: I must borrow money, And that some call a striking; but you are my very loving Uncle.
[UK]B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Strike c. to Beg, also to borrow Money. [...] Strike the Cull, c. Beg of that Gentleman. Strike the Cly, c. get that Fellow’s Money from him. He has Struck the Quidds, c. he has got the Cole from him.
[UK]A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) II: [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]Music Hall & Theatre Rev. 26 July 11/1: Snooper—‘How does your new son-in-law strike you, Fangle?’ Fangle—‘for ten dollars, usually’ .
[US]Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 31 Jan. 6/1: He ‘guessed he'd go up and strike Rapp for a hundred’ [...] He had really only borrowed $10.

3. to make a sudden and pressing demand upon someone for money; to beg.

[US]Matsell Vocabulum 87: strike To get money from candidates before an election, under the pretense of getting votes for them; to borrow without intending to pay back.
[UK]G.A. Sala in Living London (1883) Apr. 150: A ‘beat’ is a beggar; ‘to strike’ is to importune.
[US]S. Crane in N.Y. Press 22 Apr. in Stallman (1966) 36: Why don’t yeh strike somebody that looks as if they had money?
[UK]Boy’s Own Paper 6 Apr. 421: Strike him for fifteen thousand, and, by Jimminie! you’ll get it.
[Aus]Sun. Times (Perth) 3 Sept. 4/8: First Gay Girl : ‘Have you struck anything in the new opera company?’ Second Gay Girl: ‘Yes, I Just managed to strike the baritone for a tenor’.
[US]S. Lewis Main Street (1921) 140: You’re worse than Reverend Benlick! He don’t hardly ever strike me for more than ten dollars – at a time!

4. to get money suddenly.

[US]F. Francis Jr Saddle and Mocassin 120: Ain’t we struck it big, eh? ain’t we just eternally heeled?
[UK]‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘The Lure of the Lucre’ Sporting Times 1 Aug. 1/4: She ’eard about a cove, a small Rockefeller, so to speak, / Who is just about to strike a reg’lar income ev’ry week.
[US]‘John Eagle’ Hoodlums (2021) 47: Marty restacked the bills [...] ‘Where did you strike?’.

5. to ask someone for something, e.g. food.

[UK]Shields Dly Gaz. 24 Dec. 6/5: The boy had struck for a rise of salary.
[US]J. London ‘And ’Frisco Kid Came Back’ in High School Aegis X (4 Nov.) 2–4: I struck a guy fer de price, an he wuz a fly cop. I got thirty days.
[Aus]Bulletin (Sydney) 20 Aug. 16/4: Bill and I were huggin’ Matilda along the Bokara. We called at a station and struck the cove for a bit of rations. My heel was raw from asking too much off a pair yearling blutchers, so we camped in a bend and did in our bit of scram [sic].
[US]P. & T. Casey Gay-cat 48: ‘I’ll strike him for a meal,’ he decided.

6. to persuade someone to spend money.

[Aus]Bulletin (Sydney) 13 Aug. 51/2: ‘Struck th’ Boss fer two bobs’ worth o’ raffle tickets,’ he reported in a joyous undertone.

7. to look at.

[Scot]V. McDermid Out of Bounds (2017) 5: The crumpled driver’s door [...] creaked open, spilling the ruined torso [...] ‘Strike that’ the cop sighed.

In phrases

SE in slang uses

In compounds

In phrases

strike a blow for liberty (v.)

(US) in the Prohibition era, to take a clandestine drink.

(con. 1920s–30s) W. Cozas Metro Voice 20 Nov. 🌐 John Nance Garner, the Vice President who famously announced that the position he held wasn’t ‘worth a pitcher of warm spit,’ served in the Senate during the great American folly known as Prohibition. Each evening, Garner invited kindred spirits among his colleagues to join him in his office, and when a convivial group had gathered, he would open a cabinet, revealing an excellent selection of bourbons. As he passed the bottle, he would say, ‘Gentlemen, shall we strike a blow for liberty?’.
strike a bright (v.) [SE bright thought]

to have a sudden, pleasant thought, to have a piece of good luck.

[UK]Marvel XV:377 Jan. 6: Blest if I ain’t struck a bright!
[UK]J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 235/2: Strike a bright (Peoples’). Have a happy thought.
strike it (v.)

(N.Z. prison) to go on hunger strike.

[NZ]D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 180/1: strike it v. to refuse to eat in order to prove a point, mount a protest, or effect some change in prison policy or procedure.
strike (it) lucky (v.)

to become lucky.

[UK]Rover 13 Jan. 48: Me an’ my pal here have struck it lucky.
[UK]P. Larkin letter 5 June in Thwaite Sel. Letters (1992) 57: The news that you have struck lucky is wholly delightful.
[UK]Indep. Rev. 21 June 10: You might strike lucky another night.
strike it rich (v.) [orig. used in oil-/goldfields]

to gain sudden wealth.

[US]J.R. Browne Adventures in Apache Country 294: ‘Struck it rich!’ ‘Silver bricks!’ and ‘Pay rock!’ hummed and drummed through the air. [Ibid.] 412: Boys, they’ve struck it rich in the new drift!
[US]‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It 277: In mining parlance the Wide West had ‘struck it rich!’.
[Aus]Bulletin (Sydney) 13 June 9/1: He escapes, goes to Mexico, and ‘strikes it rich.’ We knew a man to go to Mexico […]. He, too, struck it rich. But as ’twas another person’s claim, and as our acquaintance was found next morning hanging from a branch 100 feet high, his good fortune didn’t seem to do him much good.
[UK]Binstead & Wells Pink ’Un and Pelican 199: Not only did they ‘find’ but they struck it pretty rich.
[Aus]‘Rolf Boldrewood’ In Bad Company 489: It is on the cards, also, that they may have ‘struck it rich’ on a Queensland or West Australian goldfield.
[US]W.M. Raine Bucky O’Connor (1910) 97: Understand they’ve struck it rich. Anyway, they’re hitting the high places while the mazuma lasts.
[US]‘A-No. 1’ Snare of the Road 74: An’ did he done strike it rich?
[US]‘J.M. Hall’ Anecdota Americana I 29: Such news was without a precedent even in that locality where men were striking it rich every day.
[Aus]K.S. Prichard Haxby’s Circus 241: My word you’re in luck, aren’t you? Haxby’s have struck it rich this time.
[US]Newsweek 16 Jan. 69/1: [He] had received his chance in life in some little mountain mission school in Tennessee and had used his training to strike it rich [DA].
[Aus]F.J. Hardy Yarns of Billy Borker 142: Never ever struck it rich. Got pay dirt at times.
[US]J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 126: Rosie Muldoon who struck it rich by marrying an extremely successful anesthiologist.
[UK]Guardian G2 28 July 13: He could die a slow death scraping a living as a farmer, or risk his life and strike it rich.
strike-me-blind (n.) [the belief that rice would make one blind; thus naut. jargon strike-me-blind, rice]

boiled rice and black-strap molasses.

[UK]Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.
strike me dead (n.)

see separate entries.

strike oil (v.) (also strike ile)

(orig. US) to do well, to prosper.

[UK]Sat. Rev. (London) 6 Jan. n.p.: Here the ingenious and industrious explorer constantly strikes ile, and of the very best quality [F&H].
[US]Phila. Ledger 15 Feb. n.p.: We are told Mr. Harte has struck ile in Chicago. At a dinner given in his honor, each guest brought five thousand dollars as his contribution to Brett Harte’s new magazine.
[Aus]Bulletin (Sydney) 11 Apr. 18/4: I consider that for every £10 laid out by me – I should say by my better-half, but it’s all the same thing – I’ve got at least £13 of stuff, so that I am £3 in every £10 better off than if I had not been lucky enough to strike ‘ile’ in the Haymarket, Sydney. [Ibid.] 4 July 18/3: The first man went north, struck a rich patch and became wealthy; the second followed a south-westerly direction, ‘struck oil,’ and also became wealthy; but the third – opened up right there and became wealthy, too?
[Aus]Dead Bird (Sydney) 21 June 2/4: ‘Had a fortune left her, eh? Well, it’s wonderful how these low people manage to strike oil’.
[US]L. Chittenden ‘A Stockman’s Adventures in New York’ in Ranch Verses 160: Right then I showed my money, the whole big chuffy pile / Till Can commenced hiz smilin’, and said that I’d struck ile.
[UK]Fanny Wentworth ‘The Coster’s Confession’ 🎵 I drove ’er ’ome in tip-top style – You ought to see that donkey smile – ’E seemed to say, ‘Why, you’ve struck ile – You are a lucky cuss!’.
[US]L.W. Payne Jr ‘Word-List From East Alabama’ in DN III:v 377: strike oil, v. To be lucky, hit upon a good thing.
[UK]‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Comedians All’ Sporting Times 17 Apr. 1/2: Agitator comedians often ‘strike’ oil.
[US]Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.
strike one’s breath (v.)

(Aus.) to ‘cross one’s heart and hope to die’, as part of an assurance of one’s honesty.

[Aus]N. Lindsay Saturdee 75: Strike yer breath you don’t go back on it.
[UK]Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1167/2: late C19–20.
strike out (v.) [baseball jargon strike out, of the batter to fail to make legal contact with the ball in three attempts] (US)

1. to die.

[US]L. Pound ‘Amer. Euphemisms for Dying’ in AS XI:3 200: Struck out.
[US]Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl.

2. to fail, esp. in an attempt to seduce a woman or man or trick a potential victim for a confidence trick.

[US]R. Prather Scrambled Yeggs 90: I’d struck out at the bank, but there was another way.
[US]‘Richard Hooker’ M*A*S*H (2004) 127: Of course [...] this method doesn’t guarantee success. You may strike out.
[US]E. Torres After Hours 37: Have always struck out with chicks on all movin’ vehicles.
[US](con. 1940s) C. Bram Hold Tight (1990) 89: I have seen you [i.e. a homosexual man] strike out many times with the boys here.
[US]N. Stephenson Cryptonomicon 383: Got some IDs, struck out on some others.
strike the gag (v.)

see under gag n.

strike up (v.)

(US black gang) to inscribe a wall with a gang name.

[US]K. Scott Monster (1994) 116: She bent the corner and caught a muthafucka strikin’ up the ’hood.

In exclamations

strike a light!

(orig. Aus.) a general excl. of surprise, shock, amazement etc.

[UK]Sporting Times 3 Mar. 5/4: He wants a lot of paying before he will do any work. Now then, Strike-a-Light, come up, can’t you.
[UK]A.N. Lyons Arthur’s 122: Strike a light, lad! You do find ’em.
[UK]T. Burke Limehouse Nights 272: ‘Strike a light!’ shouted a voice.
[Aus]C.J. Dennis ‘The Faltering Knight’ in Chisholm (1951) 71: That’s ’ow I was; an’ now – Ar, strike a light! / Life gits so mixed I can’t git nothin’ right.
[UK]J. Curtis They Drive by Night 84: Strike a light they had boys on the crooked lark up this way and all, didn’t they?
[Aus]A. Gurney Bluey & Curley 22 Feb. [synd. cartoon strip] [title] Strike a Light.
[UK]C. Harris Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 22: No, strike a light – !
[UK]B. Kops Dream of Peter Mann Act II: Strike a light, look who it ain’t.
[UK]F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 105: Cor, strike a light, Ed.
[UK](con. WW2) T. Jones Heart of Oak [ebook] Cor, strike a bloody light!
[Aus]R. Beckett Dinkum Aussie Dict. 49: Strike a light: An expression of very little meaning usually inserted at the beginning of a sentence simply to give the speaker time to collect his thoughts as in, ‘Strike a light, but she’s a bloody beaut day.’.
[UK]Guardian G2 17 Feb. 3: Strike a light, would you Adam and Eve it.
[UK]K. Sampson Killing Pool 10: Strike a light [...] this is going to be the end of me.