Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see under jigger n.¹

gin.

1725

J. Sheppard Sheppard in Egypt 17: They relented and ordered me half a Gallon of Strike fire for my Refreshment.

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

2001

(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?’.

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

1901		Marvel XV:377 Jan. 6: Blest if I ain’t struck a bright!
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 235/2: Strike a bright (Peoples’). Have a happy thought.

1. to pull oneself together.

1827

Egan Anecdotes of the Turf, the Chase etc. 183: Come, Mr. Gooseberry, strike a light and find yourself* (*A cant phrase among low persons).

2. to run up credit at a public house.

1823

‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.

see take to the tall timber(s) under tall timber n.

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

2001

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.

to become lucky.

1934		Rover 13 Jan. 48: Me an’ my pal here have struck it lucky.
1943		P. Larkin letter 5 June in Thwaite Sel. Letters (1992) 57: The news that you have struck lucky is wholly delightful.
1999		Indep. Rev. 21 June 10: You might strike lucky another night.

to gain sudden wealth.

1869		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!
1872		‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It 277: In mining parlance the Wide West had ‘struck it rich!’.
1885		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.
1898		Binstead & Wells Pink ’Un and Pelican 199: Not only did they ‘find’ but they struck it pretty rich.
1901		‘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.
1907		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.
1916		‘A-No. 1’ Snare of the Road 74: An’ did he done strike it rich?
1927		‘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.
1930		K.S. Prichard Haxby’s Circus 241: My word you’re in luck, aren’t you? Haxby’s have struck it rich this time.
1950		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].
1965		F.J. Hardy Yarns of Billy Borker 142: Never ever struck it rich. Got pay dirt at times.
1975		J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 126: Rosie Muldoon who struck it rich by marrying an extremely successful anesthiologist.
1999		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.

boiled rice and black-strap molasses.

1890–1904

Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

see separate entries.

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

1866		Sat. Rev. (London) 6 Jan. n.p.: Here the ingenious and industrious explorer constantly strikes ile, and of the very best quality [F&H].
1871		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.
1885		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?
1890		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’.
1893		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.
1895		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!’.
1909		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.
1915		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Comedians All’ Sporting Times 17 Apr. 1/2: Agitator comedians often ‘strike’ oil.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl.

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

1933		N. Lindsay Saturdee 75: Strike yer breath you don’t go back on it.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1167/2: late C19–20.

1. to die.

1936		L. Pound ‘Amer. Euphemisms for Dying’ in AS XI:3 200: Struck out.
1939		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.

1958		R. Prather Scrambled Yeggs 90: I’d struck out at the bank, but there was another way.
1968		‘Richard Hooker’ M*A*S*H (2004) 127: Of course [...] this method doesn’t guarantee success. You may strike out.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 37: Have always struck out with chicks on all movin’ vehicles.
1988		(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.
1999		N. Stephenson Cryptonomicon 383: Got some IDs, struck out on some others.

see under gag n.

see under gig n.⁴

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

1993

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

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

1900		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.
1908		A.N. Lyons Arthur’s 122: Strike a light, lad! You do find ’em.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 272: ‘Strike a light!’ shouted a voice.
1924		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.
1934		C. Drew ‘Shakespeare Harry’s Runner’ in Bulletin 27 June 50/2: Strike a light,” I says. “No wonder the Tommy was anxious to bet!
1938		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?
1941		A. Gurney Bluey & Curley 22 Feb. [synd. cartoon strip] [title] Strike a Light.
1950		C. Harris Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 22: No, strike a light – !
1960		B. Kops Dream of Peter Mann Act II: Strike a light, look who it ain’t.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 105: Cor, strike a light, Ed.
1984		(con. WW2) T. Jones Heart of Oak [ebook] Cor, strike a bloody light!
1986		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.’.
2000		Guardian G2 17 Feb. 3: Strike a light, would you Adam and Eve it.
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 10: Strike a light [...] this is going to be the end of me.