streak
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /stɹiːk/
rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: streaks
Etymology: 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 (striks).
Senses: examples: text: 'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: The picture I took out the car window had streaks.
glosses: An irregular line left from smearing or motion.
examples: text: I hope I can keep up this streak of accomplishments.
text: I was on a winning streak until the fourth game, when I was dealt terrible cards.
glosses: A continuous series of like events.
examples: text: Out went conversation in favour of fast and more immediate pleasures. We migrated on to texts, voice notes, emojis and the Snapchat “streak”.
ref: 2025 May 31, Jo Ellison, “The beguiling charm of a bedtime phone call”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 20:
glosses: A continuous series of like events.
A measure of activity that tracks how many consecutive days a certain interaction with another user or a service has taken place, a form of gamification to drive user engagement.
qualifier: social media
examples: text: a mean streak
text: a stubborn streak
glosses: A consistent facet of somebody's personality.
glosses: 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.
examples: Streak (moth) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
glosses: A moth of the family Geometridae, Chesias legatella.
examples: text: She's a quiet, bookish person, but she has a rebellious streak.
text: Rashford showed the fearless streak Southgate so admires with his constant willingness to run at Brazil's defence with pace, even demonstrating on occasion footwork that would not have been out of place from members of England's illustrious opposition.
ref: 2017 November 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-0 Brazil”, in BBC News:
text: Coinbase’s government work has proved highly controversial to many crypto fans, owing perhaps to the long-running libertarian streak in that community.
ref: 2022 June 29, Sam Biddle, “Cryptocurrency Titan Coinbase Providing "Geo Tracking Data" to ICE”, in The Intercept:
glosses: A tendency or characteristic, but not a dominant or pervasive one.
topics: business
manufacturing
shipbuilding
glosses: A strake.
glosses: A rung or round of a ladder.
glosses: The act of streaking, or running naked through a public area.
Derived terms: blue streak
bluestreak
compulsive streak
fall streak
hot streak
learning streak
long streak of misery
lucky streak
Mallen streak
mean streak
primitive streak
streak-backed antshrike
streak camera
streaken
streak it
streakless
streak of good luck
streak of piss
streak plate
streaky
visual streak
yellow streak