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To strike up

Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Strike \Strike\, v. i.
   To move; to advance; to proceed; to take a course; as, to
   strike into the fields.

         A mouse . . . struck forth sternly [bodily]. --Piers
                                                  Plowman.

   2. To deliver a quick blow or thrust; to give blows.

            And fiercely took his trenchant blade in hand, With
            which he stroke so furious and so fell. --Spenser.

            Strike now, or else the iron cools.   --Shak.

   3. To hit; to collide; to dush; to clash; as, a hammer
      strikes against the bell of a clock.

   4. To sound by percussion, with blows, or as with blows; to
      be struck; as, the clock strikes.

            A deep sound strikes like a rising knell. --Byron.

   5. To make an attack; to aim a blow.

            A puny subject strikes At thy great glory. --Shak.

            Struck for throne, and striking found his doom.
                                                  --Tennyson.

   6. To touch; to act by appulse.

            Hinder light but from striking on it [porphyry], and
            its colors vanish.                    --Locke.

   7. To run upon a rock or bank; to be stranded; as, the ship
      struck in the night.

   8. To pass with a quick or strong effect; to dart; to
      penetrate.

            Till a dart strike through his liver. --Prov. vii.
                                                  23.

            Now and then a glittering beam of wit or passion
            strikes through the obscurity of the poem. --Dryden.

   9. To break forth; to commence suddenly; -- with into; as, to
      strike into reputation; to strike into a run.

   10. To lower a flag, or colors, in token of respect, or to
       signify a surrender of a ship to an enemy.

             That the English ships of war should not strike in
             the Danish seas.                     --Bp. Burnet.

   11. To quit work in order to compel an increase, or prevent a
       reduction, of wages.

   12. To become attached to something; -- said of the spat of
       oysters.

   13. To steal money. [Old Slang, Eng.] --Nares.

   {To strike at}, to aim a blow at.

   {To strike for}, to start suddenly on a course for.

   {To strike home}, to give a blow which reaches its object, to
      strike with effect.

   {To strike in}.
       (a) To enter suddenly.
       (b) To disappear from the surface, with internal effects,
           as an eruptive disease.
       (c) To come in suddenly; to interpose; to interrupt. ``I
           proposed the embassy of Constantinople for Mr.
           Henshaw, but my Lord Winchelsea struck in.''
           --Evelyn.
       (d) To join in after another has begun,as in singing.

   {To strike in with}, to conform to; to suit itself to; to
      side with, to join with at once. ``To assert this is to
      strike in with the known enemies of God's grace.''
      --South.

   {To strike out}.
       (a) To start; to wander; to make a sudden excursion; as,
           to strike out into an irregular course of life.
       (b) To strike with full force.
       (c) (Baseball) To be put out for not hitting the ball
           during one's turn at the bat.

   {To strike up}, to commence to play as a musician; to begin
      to sound, as an instrument. ``Whilst any trump did sound,
      or drum struck up.'' --Shak.


       (c) To separate by a blow or any sudden action; as, to
           strike off what is superfluous or corrupt.

   {To strike oil}, to find petroleum when boring for it;
      figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang,
      U.S.]

   {To strike one luck}, to shake hands with one and wish good
      luck. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.

   {To strike out}.
       (a) To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike
           out sparks with steel.
       (b) To blot out; to efface; to erase. ``To methodize is
           as necessary as to strike out.'' --Pope.
       (c) To form by a quick effort; to devise; to invent; to
           contrive, as, to strike out a new plan of finance.
       (d) (Baseball) To cause a player to strike out; -- said
           of the pitcher. See {To strike out}, under {Strike},
           v. i.

   {To strike sail}. See under {Sail}.

   {To strike up}.
       (a) To cause to sound; to begin to beat. ``Strike up the
           drums.'' --Shak.
       (b) To begin to sing or play; as, to strike up a tune.
       (c) To raise (as sheet metal), in making diahes, pans,
           etc., by blows or pressure in a die.

   {To strike work}, to quit work; to go on a strike.
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