striker English · revision 15255

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=late 14th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈstraɪkə/^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an agent noun from [[strike]], formed with [[-er]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A vagabond or wanderer, from strike in the sense to travel or go: the late 14th century, and as a surname from the late 13th century, in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first quotation, 1393, is for one who roams as a vagrant, comparing [[de|Landstreicher|t=vagrant]].^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A coiner of money is from the mid-15th century (Scots, 1449 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a fighter, one who strikes, from the 1580s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a worker on strike from 1850.^(Etymonline) It has been used in various games since the 1690s, and as a position in football by 1963.^(Etymonline) Mechanical strikers, such as the hammer that rings a clock bell or the firing pin of a gun, are in modern dictionaries.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1393 – a vagrant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1449 – a coiner.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1581 – one who strikes.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1850 – a worker on strike.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1963 – a football striker.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A worker who is on [[strike]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(football)'' An attacking player who plays near the opponents' goal.^(Collins 2023)

+ # A part of a device that strikes something, as the [[clapper]] of a bell or the [[firing pin]] of a gun.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[harpoon]], or a person who uses one.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dolphin striker]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[strike]]

+ * [[stroke]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the English Dialect Dictionary a striker is a blacksmith's assistant who wields the sledgehammer, in northern and Midland counties.^(Wright 1898) In Lancashire it was also a spectre hound believed to appear when a calamity was at hand.^(Wright 1898)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}