Literary notes about strike (AI summary)
The term “strike” carries a remarkably diverse range of connotations across literary works. It is used literally to denote physical impact or violence, as when characters attack or inflict harm ([1], [2], [3]), while also alluding to divine intervention or cosmic force ([4], [5], [6]). Simultaneously, it functions metaphorically to capture sudden insight or dramatic shifts in mood and circumstance, such as an idea hitting one unexpectedly ([7], [8]). In other contexts, it animates scenes of action and resistance—from the call to protest in labor disputes ([9], [10]) to the stirring directives in epic battles and heroic quests. This versatility in usage enriches both narrative momentum and symbolic depth throughout literature.
- One of us held the iron drill in its place and another would strike with an eight-pound sledge—it was like driving nails on a large scale.
— from Roughing It by Mark Twain - As soon as the sage had said this, the King gave orders to strike off his head; and it was done.
— from The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I. - He raises his dagger to strike the sleeper, who turns in his bed, and opens his broad chest as if for the blow.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - In Germany it was sacred to Thor, and he would not strike with his lightning a house protected by it.
— from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway - Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire. 9:5.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - For I will stretch forth my hand, and will strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of them: after these he will let you go.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - In a trice may joy turn to sorrow, should one halt long enough over it: in a trice only God can say what ideas may strike one.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - As he thought of his aunt, an idea seemed to strike him.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - All this was in June; and before long the question was submitted to a referendum in the unions, and the decision was for a strike.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - The great strike was over, the strikers beaten.
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis