strip

STRIP/stɹɪp/

38 meanings of strip

1
nouncountable or uncountable
A long, narrow piece of some material, like paper, cloth, or metal.
Like a ribbon cut from a bigger sheet.
She cut a long strip from the sheet of paper.
The kit included strips of sticky tape for sealing boxes.
Similarband, ribbon, piece, slip, shred
Note
2
nouncountable
A long, narrow piece of land or ground.
Like a long, thin rug laid out across the floor.
They planted vegetables on a narrow strip of land behind the house.
A thin strip of grass divided the two parking lots.
Similarband, belt, stretch, swath, ribbon
Note
3
verbtransitive
To pull or take something off, often in long pieces.
Like peeling the skin off an orange.
Workers stripped the old paint from the walls.
You need to strip the bark before carving the wood.
Similarremove, peel, scrape, clear
Oppositeapply, add
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4
verbintransitive
To take off your clothes, often all of them.
He stripped and jumped into the lake.
The kids strip before getting into the bath.
Similarundress, disrobe
Oppositedress
Note
5
verbtransitive
To take away what someone has, leaving them with nothing.
Like a thief taking everything out of a house.
The court stripped him of his title.
They strip the company of its assets.
Similardeprive, divest, plunder, rob, loot
Oppositerestore, grant
Note
6
nounUScountable or uncountable
A street lined with many shops, restaurants, and places to have fun.
Like one long row of stores all next to each other.
Tourists love wandering the strip with its bright lights and casinos.
Every restaurant on the strip was full on Saturday night.
Similardrag, boulevard, street
7
nouncountable or uncountable
A short series of drawings that tell a funny or ongoing story, like in a newspaper.
Like a tiny story told with a few pictures in a row.
The cartoonist drew a new strip about a talking dog.
Her favorite strip appears in the Sunday paper.
Similarcomic, cartoon
8
nouncountable
The act of taking off your clothes as a show or performance.
Her strip at the club drew loud cheers.
The dancer's strip was the highlight of the late show.
Similarstriptease
9
verbintransitive
To take off your clothes slowly as a performance for an audience.
Dancers strip on the main stage every weekend.
He stripped for the cheering crowd.
Similarundress, disrobe
Oppositedress
10
nouncountable or uncountable
A long, flat stretch of ground where planes take off and land.
Like a long, flat road made just for planes.
The small plane touched down on a grassy strip.
They cleared a strip in the jungle for emergency landings.
Similarrunway, airfield

11
verbtransitive
To take the outer cover off a wire so the metal inside shows.
Like peeling the plastic off a wire to see the metal.
He stripped the wire before connecting it.
You strip the cable to reach the copper inside.
Similarbare, skin
Oppositeinsulate
12
verbtransitive
To wear down the ridges on a screw or bolt, usually by turning it too hard.
Like turning a screw so hard its grooves wear away.
He stripped the screw by tightening it too hard.
Be careful not to strip the bolt.
Note
13
verbtransitive
To take the color out of hair or cloth so new color can go on.
Like erasing pencil marks so you can draw something new.
She stripped the dye from her hair before going blonde.
You must strip the fabric before dyeing it again.
Similarremove, lift, bleach
Oppositedye, color
14
nounbefore a noun
Used with a game's name to mean a version where the losers must take off clothes.
Like a normal card game, but losing means taking off a sock or shirt.
The teenagers dared each other to play strip poker.
He suggested a round of strip blackjack to liven things up.
Note
15
verbintransitive
Of a screw or bolt, to lose its grip because its ridges have worn away.
Like a screw spinning forever without ever tightening.
The screw stripped after one too many turns.
Cheap bolts strip easily under pressure.
16
nouncountable or uncountable
A tender beef steak cut from the lower back of a cow.
She ordered a strip, cooked medium rare, at the steakhouse.
The chef seared two strips on the cast-iron grill.
17
nounslangcountable or uncountable
A club where dancers take off their clothes to entertain an audience.
His buddies dragged him to a strip for the bachelor party.
The new strip on Eighth Avenue lost its license last month.
Note
18
nounUKcountable or uncountable
The matching clothes a sports team wears, or copies that fans wear.
The team ran out in their new home strip for the first match.
Thousands of fans bought the away strip before the cup final.
Similarkit, uniform, colors, jersey, shirt
Note
19
nouncountable or uncountable
A TV show that airs at the same time every weekday.
Like a school class that happens at the same time every day.
The network scheduled the game show as a strip to build daily viewing.
Reruns of the sitcom became a late-night strip across the fall season.
Note
20
verbtransitive
To play a TV show in the same time slot every weekday.
The channel decided to strip the cartoon every afternoon.
Networks often strip their best game shows across weekdays.
Note
21
verbtransitive
To take all the goods out of a shipping container.
Like emptying a box until nothing is left inside.
Workers strip the container as soon as it reaches the dock.
It takes two hours to strip a full container by hand.
Similarunload, unpack, empty
Oppositeload, pack, stuff
22
verbtransitive
To empty a tube by squeezing along its outside to push everything out.
Like squeezing a tube of toothpaste from the bottom to push it all out.
Nurses strip the drain to keep it from clogging.
You strip the tube gently so the fluid keeps moving.
Similarmilk
23
verbtransitive
To clear away the soil and rock that lies over a deposit of ore.
Like scraping the frosting off a cake to reach the layer underneath.
Crews strip the topsoil before they can reach the coal.
Machines strip the ground above the seam in wide layers.
Similarremove, clear, excavate
24
verbtransitive
To cut off the top layer of land in long, narrow bands.
Each spring they strip the old field in long rows and pile the turf by the fence.
The family stripped their backyard in narrow rows to make room for a vegetable garden.
Similarpare, skim, skin, peel
Note
25
verbtransitive
To take the metal coating off a plated object, often using acid or electricity.
Like using polish remover to take old color off your nails.
Workers strip the old silver from the worn spoons.
Acid can strip the chrome off a rusted bumper.
Similarremove, dissolve
Oppositeplate, coat
26
verbtransitive
To get the last milk from a cow by gently squeezing and pulling the teats.
Like squeezing the last water out of a wet cloth.
The farmer would strip the cow by hand each evening.
You strip the last drops so the udder stays healthy.
Similarmilk
27
verbtransitive
To make another player use up all their cards in one suit.
Like taking away someone's only safe move so they must help you.
You strip the other player of their hearts before leading trumps.
Good players strip an opponent of one suit early in the hand.
Note
28
nouncountable or uncountable
The long, narrow floor area where two fencers compete, about 14 meters long.
Like a bowling lane: a long, narrow space where the action happens.
The two fencers saluted before stepping onto the strip.
She was pushed back to the edge of the strip.
Similarpiste
Note
29
nouncountable or uncountable
A long open container used to wash ore and catch the valuable bits.
Like rinsing sand in a tray to find the shiny stones left behind.
Miners poured the crushed rock into the strip and rinsed it with water.
Gold settled at the bottom of the strip as the mud washed away.
Similarsluice, trough
Note
30
verbtransitive
To pull the dried leaves off tobacco stalks and tie them into small bundles.
Like picking grapes off a stem and tying them into small bunches.
The workers strip the tobacco once the leaves have dried.
Families would strip the crop together during the cold winter months.
31
noun
When a bullet leaves a gun without spinning.
32
noun
A way of trading options that bets on a price falling.
33
verb
To shoot a bullet from a rifle without giving it the usual spin.
34
verb
Of a bullet, to leave a rifle without picking up spin from its grooves.
35
verb
To squeeze eggs or sperm out of fish for breeding.
36
verbobsolete
To go past something.
when first they stripp'd the Malean promontory
1618, George Chapman, A Hymn to Apollo
37
verb
To clean the wire teeth of a fiber-combing tool or machine when fiber clogs them.
38
verb
To take the hard middle stem out of each leaf of tobacco.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–2, 6–7, 10, 16–19, 28–29

The origin is not certain. It may be a change of the word "stripe," or it may come from Middle Low German "strippe."

Meanings 3–5, 8–9, 11–15, 20–27, 30

It comes from Old English "strīepan," meaning "to plunder."