streak

Meanings

Noun

• An irregular line left from smearing or motion.
• A continuous series of like events.
• The color of the powder of a mineral. So called, because a simple field test for a mineral is to streak it against unglazed white porcelain.
• A moth of the family Geometridae, Chesias legatella (species).
• A tendency or characteristic, but not a dominant or pervasive one.
• A strake.
• A rung or round of a ladder.
• The act of streaking, or running naked through a public area

Verb

• To have or obtain streaks.
• To run quickly.
• To run naked in public.
• To create streaks.
• To move very swiftly.
• To stretch; to extend; hence, to lay out, as a dead body.

Origin

• From Middle English streke, from Old English strica, from Proto-Germanic *strikiz, from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- ("line"). Related to North Frisian strijck, Old Saxon striki, Middle Low German streke, Low German streek, Danish streg, Swedish streck, Norwegian Bokmål strek, Icelandic stryk, strykr, Dutch streek, Afrikaans streek, Old High German strih, German Strich, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌺𐍃.