streaking


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

streak

(strēk)
n.
1. A line, mark, smear, or band differentiated by color or texture from its surroundings.
2. An inherent, often contrasting quality: "There was a streak of wildness in him" (Olga Carlisle).
3. A ray or flash of light: the first streaks of dawn; a streak of lightning.
4. Informal
a. A brief run or stretch, as of luck.
b. An unbroken series, as of wins or losses.
5. Mineralogy The color of the fine powder produced when a mineral is rubbed against a hard surface. Used as a distinguishing characteristic.
6. Botany Any of various viral diseases of plants characterized by the appearance of discolored stripes on the leaves or stems.
7. Microbiology A sample of microorganisms that has been introduced into a solid culture medium by a needle drawn across its surface.
v. streaked, streak·ing, streaks
v.tr.
1. To mark with streaks: rain streaking the pavement.
2. To make streaks of a different, usually lighter color in (hair) using a chemical preparation.
3. Microbiology To inoculate (a culture medium) with a streak.
v.intr.
1. To form streaks.
2. To be or become streaked.
3. To move at high speed; rush.
4. To run naked in public, especially as a prank.
[Middle English streke, line, from Old English strica; see streig- in Indo-European roots.]
streak′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

streaking

(ˈstriːkɪŋ)
n
1. an act or instance of running naked through a public place
2. (Broadcasting) television light or dark streaks to the right of a bright object in a television picture, caused by distortion in the transmission chain
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Translations

streaking

[ˈstriːkɪŋ] N → carrera f desnudista
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

streaking

[ˈstriːkɪŋ] n → streaking m inv
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Set free by their absence from the intolerable necessity of accounting for her grief or of beholding their frightened wonder, she could live unconstrainedly with the sorrow that was every day streaking her hair with whiteness and making her eyelids languid.
View in context
He had been streaking toward Tracy McGrady, who had the last longer streak when he scored 30 in 14 in a row in 2003.
Thunder post 10th straight
Teammates who play regularly with a streaking player hit at a pace above their own average during those games, a mathematical analysis shows.
Hitting streaks may be contagious: teammates of batters on a tear also do better than usual
It prints an identification label on the bottom of each plate immediately after plating and streaking, eliminating any risk of human error, has a unique system to check accuracy of specimen cultures using a camera and image-analysis system to detect the droplet in the loop prior to plating.
Automatic plating and streaking