Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Strike \Strike\, v. t. [imp. {Struck}; p. p. {Struck},
   {Stricken}({Stroock}, {Strucken}, Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Striking}. Struck is more commonly used in the p. p. than
   stricken.] [OE. striken to strike, proceed, flow, AS.
   str[=i]can to go, proceed, akin to D. strijken to rub,
   stroke, strike, to move, go, G. streichen, OHG. str[=i]hhan,
   L. stringere to touch lightly, to graze, to strip off (but
   perhaps not to L. stringere in sense to draw tight), striga a
   row, a furrow. Cf. {Streak}, {Stroke}.]
   1. To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or
      with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either
      with the hand or with any instrument or missile.

            He at Philippi kept His sword e'en like a dancer;
            while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius.
                                                  --Shak.

   2. To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet
      struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship
      struck a reef.

   3. To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a
      force to; to dash; to cast.

            They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the
            two sideposts.                        --Ex. xii. 7.

            Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.
                                                  --Byron.

   4. To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike
      coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint.

   5. To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in
      the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep.

   6. To punish; to afflict; to smite.

            To punish the just is not good, nor strike princes
            for equity.                           --Prov. xvii.
                                                  26.

   7. To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or
      notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve;
      the drums strike up a march.

   8. To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike
      sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of
      surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to
      strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch.

   9. To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect
      sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind,
      with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or
      horror.

            Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the
            first view.                           --Atterbury.

            They please as beauties, here as wonders strike.
                                                  --Pope.

   10. To affect in some particular manner by a sudden
       impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me
       favorably; to strike one dead or blind.

             How often has stricken you dumb with his irony!
                                                  --Landor.

   11. To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a
       stroke; as, to strike a light.

             Waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a
             universal peace through sea and land. --Milton.

   12. To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match.

   13. To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain.

   Note: Probably borrowed from the L. f[oe]dus ferrire, to
         strike a compact, so called because an animal was
         struck and killed as a sacrifice on such occasions.

   14. To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money.
       [Old Slang]

   15. To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by
       scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the
       level of the top.

   16. (Masonry) To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the
       face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.

   17. To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a
       strange word; they soon struck the trail.

   18. To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck
       a friend for five dollars. [Slang]

   19. To lade into a cooler, as a liquor. --B. Edwards.

   20. To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.

             Behold, I thought, He will . . . strike his hand
             over the place, and recover the leper. --2 Kings v.
                                                  11.

   21. To advance; to cause to go forward; -- used only in past
       participle. ``Well struck in years.'' --Shak.

   {To strike an attitude}, {To strike a balance}. See under
      {Attitude}, and {Balance}.

   {To strike a jury} (Law), to constitute a special jury
      ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain
      number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so as to
      reduce it to the number of persons required by law.
      --Burrill.

   {To strike a lead}.
       (a) (Mining) To find a vein of ore.
       (b) Fig.: To find a way to fortune. [Colloq.]

   {To strike} {a ledger, or an account}, to balance it.

   {To strike hands with}.
       (a) To shake hands with. --Halliwell.
       (b) To make a compact or agreement with; to agree with.
           

   {To strike off}.
       (a) To erase from an account; to deduct; as, to strike
           off the interest of a debt.
       (b) (Print.) To impress; to print; as, to strike off a
           thousand copies of a book.

Balance \Bal"ance\, n. [OE. balaunce, F. balance, fr. L. bilan?,
   bilancis, having two scales; bis twice (akin to E. two) +
   lanx plate, scale.]
   1. An apparatus for weighing.

   Note: In its simplest form, a balance consists of a beam or
         lever supported exactly in the middle, having two
         scales or basins of equal weight suspended from its
         extremities. Another form is that of the Roman balance,
         our steelyard, consisting of a lever or beam, suspended
         near one of its extremities, on the longer arm of which
         a counterpoise slides. The name is also given to other
         forms of apparatus for weighing bodies, as to the
         combinations of levers making up platform scales; and
         even to devices for weighing by the elasticity of a
         spring.

   2. Act of weighing mentally; comparison; estimate.

            A fair balance of the advantages on either side.
                                                  --Atterbury.

   3. Equipoise between the weights in opposite scales.

   4. The state of being in equipoise; equilibrium; even
      adjustment; steadiness.

            And hung a bottle on each side To make his balance
            true.                                 --Cowper.

            The order and balance of the country were destroyed.
                                                  --Buckle.

            English workmen completely lose their balance. --J.
                                                  S. Mill.

   5. An equality between the sums total of the two sides of an
      account; as, to bring one's accounts to a balance; --
      also, the excess on either side; as, the balance of an
      account. `` A balance at the banker's. '' --Thackeray.

            I still think the balance of probabilities leans
            towards the account given in the text. --J. Peile.

   6. (Horol.) A balance wheel, as of a watch, or clock. See
      {Balance wheel} (in the Vocabulary).

   7. (Astron.)
      (a) The constellation Libra.
      (b) The seventh sign in the Zodiac, called Libra, which
          the sun enters at the equinox in September.

   8. A movement in dancing. See {Balance}, v. i., S.

   {Balance electrometer}, a kind of balance, with a poised
      beam, which indicates, by weights suspended from one arm,
      the mutual attraction of oppositely electrified surfaces.
      --Knight.

   {Balance fish}. (Zo["o]l) See {Hammerhead}.

   {Balance knife}, a carving or table knife the handle of which
      overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with
      the table.

   {Balance of power}. (Politics), such an adjustment of power
      among sovereign states that no one state is in a position
      to interfere with the independence of the others;
      international equilibrium; also, the ability ( of a state
      or a third party within a state) to control the relations
      between sovereign states or between dominant parties in a
      state.

   {Balance sheet} (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the balances
      of the open accounts of a business, the debit and credit
      balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be
      complete and the balances correctly taken.

   {Balance thermometer}, a thermometer mounted as a balance so
      that the movement of the mercurial column changes the
      indication of the tube. With the aid of electrical or
      mechanical devices adapted to it, it is used for the
      automatic regulation of the temperature of rooms warmed
      artificially, and as a fire alarm.

   {Balance of torsion}. See {Torsion Balance}.

   {Balance of trade} (Pol. Econ.), an equilibrium between the
      money values of the exports and imports of a country; or
      more commonly, the amount required on one side or the
      other to make such an equilibrium.

   {Balance valve}, a valve whose surfaces are so arranged that
      the fluid pressure tending to seat, and that tending to
      unseat the valve, are nearly in equilibrium; esp., a
      puppet valve which is made to operate easily by the
      admission of steam to both sides. See {Puppet valve}.

   {Hydrostatic balance}. See under {Hydrostatic}.

   {To lay in balance}, to put up as a pledge or security.
      [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   {To strike a balance}, to find out the difference between the
      debit and credit sides of an account.