noun
Meaning 1
A heavy artillery bombardment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: World-War-I
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
strafe
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈstɹeɪ̯f/
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[ˈstɹ̝̊weɪf]
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[ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔weɪ̯f]
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈstɹæɪ̯f/
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Australian, New-Zealand: [ˈstɹ̝̊wæ̝ɪf]
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Australian, New-Zealand: [ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔wæ̝ɪ̯f]
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/ˈstɹɑːf/
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[ˈstɹ̝̊wɑːf]
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[ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔wɑːf]
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/ˈstɹæf/
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[ˈstɹ̝̊wæf]
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[ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔wæf]
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rhymes with -eɪf
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CMU ARPABET: S T R EY1 F Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
An attack of machine-gun or cannon fire from a low-flying aircraft.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A sideways movement without turning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: video-games
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To attack (ground targets) with automatic gunfire from a low-flying aircraft.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: aeronautics, aerospace, aviation, business, engineering, government, military, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To rake (a target) with rapid or automatic gunfire.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, transitive
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To reprimand severely.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, transitive
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To sidestep; to move sideways without turning (a core mechanic of most first-person shooters).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: video-games
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
an attack of machine-gun fire or cannon fire from a low flying airplane
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the next morning they carried out a strafe of enemy airfields
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: attack, onslaught, onset, onrush
verb
Meaning 9
attack with machine guns or cannon fire from a low-flying plane
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- civilians were strafed in an effort to force the country's surrender
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: attack, assail
History
Etymology
Borrowed from German strafe (“punish”) (a conjugated form of strafen), from phrases like Gott strafe England (“God punish England”) which the British saw during the First World War.
Across languages
Translations
15 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Czech: ostřelování ze vzduchu — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Czech: útok ze vzduchu — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Italian: mitragliamento — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Serbo-Croatian: mitraljiranje — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Spanish: ametrallamiento desde el aire — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Spanish: ametrallamiento aéreo — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Spanish: aeroametrallamiento — an attack from a low-flying aircraft
- Czech: ostřelovat — to attack with automatic gunfire
- French: mitrailler — to attack with automatic gunfire
- Italian: mitragliare — to attack with automatic gunfire
- Serbo-Croatian: mitraljirati — to attack with automatic gunfire
- Spanish: ametrallar — to attack with automatic gunfire
- Spanish: ametrallar desde el aire — to attack with automatic gunfire
- Spanish: ametrallar aéreamente — to attack with automatic gunfire
- Spanish: aeroametrallar — to attack with automatic gunfire