The Hindu Business Line : `We have met with foes that strike beside us'

STRIKE means many things, apart from closed banks and cancelled flights, halted assembly lines and a frustrated common man. In today's context, strike means refusal to work as a form of organised protest. Other meanings that Concise Oxford English Dictionary offers for the word are a sudden attack, typically a military one; striking a ball; act of striking gold, minerals or oil; and "the horizontal or compass direction of a stratum, fault, or other geological feature."

As verb, the first meaning of the word is "deliver a blow to". For instance, you hear Mark Antony declare, "Let him that loves me strike me dead," in Antony and Cleopatra. Ironically, when strikes are successful, it is the economy that takes the strike. "To crash into, knock hard against, or collide with somebody or something," is one of the many meanings on Encarta, which gives an example, `The car swerved and struck a tree'.

If a thought or idea strikes you, you suddenly think of it, says Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, and provides a sample: "Sitting at her desk, she was struck by the thought that there must be something more to life."

Another meaning of the word is `to reach or make an agreement', as in "Do you think the government should try to strike a deal with the terrorists?" When you hear, "The clock struck midnight," it means you heard a sound or a series of sounds indicating time. "Their arms are set like clocks, stiff to strike on," is a line from Shakespeare's King Henry VI.

Online Etymology Dictionary (www.etymonline.com) explains the noun form of the word as concentrated cessation of work by a body of employees (1810). The dictionary tentatively traces the word to "the notion of striking or `downing' one's tools, or from sailors' practice of striking (lowering) a ship's sails as a symbol of refusal to go to sea (1768)." Meaning `sudden military attack' is attested from 1942, it adds.

The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon, which enables it to strike and destroy its victim, instructs Sun Tzu, on the art of warfare. "When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue," is a tip from Mao Tse-Tung on how to attack, so well practised by politicians.

The verb strike has a more elaborate etymology entry. "O.E. strican `pass over lightly, stroke, smooth, rub,' also `go, proceed' (past tense strac, pp. stricen), from P.Gmc. *strik- (cf. O.N. strykva `to stroke,' O.Fris. strika, M.Du. streken, Du. strikjen `to smooth, stroke, rub,' O.H.G. strihhan, Ger. streichen)." As suggested by the entry, I see strigil, which means `ancient tool for scraping the skin after a bath,' from Latin strigilis `horse-comb,' from stringere `draw along a surface, graze, wound, strip off, rub.'

Phrases with strike that you can catch up with www.askoxford.com are `strike an attitude' meaning `hold one's body in a particular position to create an impression'; `strike up' to begin a friendship or conversation with someone; and `strike while the iron is hot' when you want to "make use of an opportunity immediately". William Butler Yeats advises, "Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking."

Strike can have specialised meanings too. Such as Window & Door Glossary on www.nuair.com defining the word as "a part of a locking device into which the moving portion of the latch engages". Strike means "deposition of fly eggs or larvae on a living host", according to www.pestmanagement.co.uk. As a geology word, strike means "the azimuth of the intersection of a plane, such as a dipping bed, with a horizontal surface," as I learn by striking www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com. A more detailed entry is available for the purpose, along with an accompanying illustration, in the glossary of earthquake terms on http://earthquake.usgs.gov: "The strike is the trend or bearing, relative to north, of the line defined by the intersection of a planar geologic surface (for example, a fault or a bed) and a horizontal surface such as the ground."

Bowling glossary on www.hickoksports.com defines strike as "the feat of knocking down all ten pins with the first ball". `Strike out' a.k.a. punch out is to get all three strikes in the tenth frame. `Striker' is a player who has to strike the ball in a game; it is also a device, as in carom.

`Strike rate' is a measure of success, in scoring runs, points or goals. As a baseball term, `strike zone' is an imaginary area over home plate extending from the armpits to the knees of a batter in the batting position, explains Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

In hockey, they speak of `striking circle', which is "an elongated semicircle" in front of the goal.

Strike is "a traditional British unit of volume, varying considerably but usually more than a bushel," explains www.unc.edu. Cutaneous myiasis is how the word finds meaning in Dorlands Medical Dictionary on www.mercksource.com.

As an abbreviation, the word stands for `Student Tobacco Reform Initiative Knowledge For Eternity', on www.abbreviationz.com. `Starting Technology-based Relationships Introducing Christianity Everywhere,' is another expansion from www.acronymfinder.com.

Strikes add to stress, though Oxford Dictionary of Business plugs in strike after `stress reduction'. The entry speaks of `official strike' that takes place as per the instructions of trade unions; `unofficial strike' is carried out without union backing; `wildcat strike' happens at short notice; `sympathetic strike' is to express solidarity with a different union; `token strike' can be "a short withdrawal of labour, say, for an our or two or even for one day, to threaten employers of more serious action to come if the employees' demands are not met"; and `general strike', as on Thursday, is aimed at bringing the country to a standstill.

Prices may often strike, but `striking price' is "price fixed by the sellers of a security after receiving bids in a tender offer". `Strike pay' is money paid to strikers by their union. `Strike-breaker' is one who is hired when the regular employees are on strike.

`Strike force' is a defence wing that is ready for sudden attack. In theatre, strike means "to clear the stage of scenery and other materials, or to remove a specific article," as defined by www.dramatic.com.au.

As part of legal jargon, strike is "to remove a statement from the record of the court proceedings by order of the judge due to impropriety of a question, answer or comment to which there has been an objection," as http://dictionary.law.com explains.

`Three strikes, you're out' is a phrase of recent beginning (1994), and it refers to the provisions in US legislation "which makes life terms (or extremely long terms without parole) mandatory for criminals who have been convicted of a third felony (as in California) or of three felonies involving violence, rape, use of a deadly weapon or molestation," explains the site.

We have met with foes that strike beside us, is perhaps what the Government may like to say about the Left, but no, it is a line of Malcolm, from Macbeth.

Strikes can only make us poorer, and so let me wrap with a snatch from Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali: "This is my prayer to thee, my lord — strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart."

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

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