# strip

Pronunciation: say "STRIP" /stɹɪp/

## Noun

1. A long, narrow piece of any material, or that material considered collectively.
   - Simple: A long, narrow piece of some material, like paper, cloth, or metal.
   - _He tore a strip of bandage and wrapped it around his ankle._
   - _The factory produces steel in long strips for the automotive industry._
2. A long, narrow piece of land, or any long, narrow area.
   - Simple: A long, narrow piece of land or ground.
   - _A strip of fertile soil ran along the riverbank._
   - _Developers bought a strip of coastline for the new resort._
6. A street lined with many shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues. *(US)*
   - Simple: A street lined with many shops, restaurants, and places to have fun.
   - _The Las Vegas strip draws millions of visitors each year._
   - _They opened a new club on the strip last spring._
7. A sequence of drawings in boxes that tell a story or joke, as found in newspapers.
   - Simple: A short series of drawings that tell a funny or ongoing story, like in a newspaper.
   - _The newspaper canceled the long-running strip after thirty years._
   - _He submitted his first strip to the editor last week._
8. The act of removing one's clothes, especially as a performance; a striptease.
   - Simple: The act of taking off your clothes as a show or performance.
   - _The performer ended the night with a slow strip._
   - _Audiences paid extra to watch the famous strip._
10. A long, flat area of ground used for aircraft to take off and land.
   - Simple: A long, flat stretch of ground where planes take off and land.
   - _The pilot circled before landing on the remote strip._
   - _Engineers graded a new strip for the cargo planes._
14. Applied to a game to denote a version in which losing players must progressively remove their clothes.
   - Simple: Used with a game's name to mean a version where the losers must take off clothes.
   - _Strip poker turns an ordinary card game into a risqué dare._
   - _Someone proposed strip darts, and the room erupted in laughter._
16. A tender steak cut from the short loin section of beef.
   - Simple: A tender beef steak cut from the lower back of a cow.
   - _He grilled the strip until it reached a perfect medium rare._
   - _Diners can pair a strip with a baked potato for under twenty dollars._
17. An informal name for a club featuring striptease performances for its patrons. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A club where dancers take off their clothes to entertain an audience.
   - _They wandered out of the strip well after closing time._
   - _A bouncer guarded the door of the strip on the corner._
18. The uniform worn by an association football team, or the same outfit worn by the team's supporters. *(UK)*
   - Simple: The matching clothes a sports team wears, or copies that fans wear.
   - _The club unveiled a retro strip to mark its centenary season._
   - _Half the crowd turned up wearing the famous red strip._
19. A television series broadcast in the same time slot each day, or at least on weekdays, so it runs straight across the weekly schedule.
   - Simple: A TV show that airs at the same time every weekday.
   - _Programmers turned the talk show into a strip to steady its ratings._
   - _The afternoon strip held the same audience five days a week._
28. The long, narrow playing area for a fencing bout, roughly 14 meters by 2 meters.
   - Simple: The long, narrow floor area where two fencers compete, about 14 meters long.
   - _The referee signaled both fencers back to the center of the strip._
   - _A touch landed just as her opponent retreated off the end of the strip._
29. A trough in which ore is washed to separate the valuable minerals from waste.
   - Simple: A long open container used to wash ore and catch the valuable bits.
   - _The crew tipped buckets of gravel into the strip to separate the ore._
   - _Water ran steadily through the strip, carrying off the lighter waste._

## Verb

3. To remove something, often by peeling it away in strips or bands.
   - Simple: To pull or take something off, often in long pieces.
   - _Crews strip the topsoil before laying the foundation._
   - _She stripped the old varnish from the antique table._
4. To take off one's clothes, removing some or all of what one is wearing.
   - Simple: To take off your clothes, often all of them.
   - _Patients are asked to strip before the examination._
   - _She stripped quickly and dove into the pool._
5. To take something away from a person or thing; to plunder or divest.
   - Simple: To take away what someone has, leaving them with nothing.
   - _The committee stripped the athlete of her medals after the scandal._
   - _Invaders strip conquered towns of everything valuable._
9. To take off one's clothes as an erotic or theatrical performance.
   - Simple: To take off your clothes slowly as a performance for an audience.
   - _She began to strip as the music slowed._
   - _The performers strip under colored lights each night._
11. To remove the protective insulation from a wire or cable, exposing the conductor.
   - Simple: To take the outer cover off a wire so the metal inside shows.
   - _The electrician strips each wire before fitting the connector._
   - _Always strip the cable carefully to avoid nicking the metal._
12. To damage the thread or teeth of a screw, nut, or gear, often by overtightening it.
   - Simple: To wear down the ridges on a screw or bolt, usually by turning it too hard.
   - _She stripped the threads on the nut with the power drill._
   - _Overtightening will strip the gear teeth quickly._
13. To remove existing color from hair, cloth, or similar material to prepare it for new dye.
   - Simple: To take the color out of hair or cloth so new color can go on.
   - _The stylist stripped the color from her hair to start fresh._
   - _They strip the old dye from the wool before recoloring it._
15. Of a bolt, screw, or nut, to fail because its thread has worn away.
   - Simple: Of a screw or bolt, to lose its grip because its ridges have worn away.
   - _The bolt stripped before it was fully tight._
   - _These nuts strip if you force them._
20. To broadcast a television series in the same daily time slot, so it appears straight across the weekly schedule.
   - Simple: To play a TV show in the same time slot every weekday.
   - _The network plans to strip the new quiz show across all five weekdays._
   - _Executives chose to strip the drama nightly to lock in a loyal audience._
21. To unload and remove all the cargo from a freight container.
   - Simple: To take all the goods out of a shipping container.
   - _Dockhands strip the container and stack the pallets in the warehouse._
   - _Customs ordered the crew to strip every container for inspection._
22. To empty a length of tubing by pressing on its outer surface and sliding that pressure along it.
   - Simple: To empty a tube by squeezing along its outside to push everything out.
   - _The nurse showed me how to strip the chest tube every hour._
   - _Technicians strip the line whenever a clot threatens to block the flow._
23. To remove the soil and rock covering a mineral deposit so it can be reached.
   - Simple: To clear away the soil and rock that lies over a deposit of ore.
   - _Operators strip the overburden to expose the coal seam below._
   - _Before mining begins, contractors strip the earth covering the ore body._
24. To pare off the surface of land in long, narrow strips.
   - Simple: To cut off the top layer of land in long, narrow bands.
   - _Before reseeding, the groundskeepers strip the worn field in long bands and stack the sod for compost._
   - _The settlers stripped the heath in narrow swaths, burned the turf, and spread the ash over the bare ground._
25. To remove the metal plating from an object, using acids, electrolysis, or similar means.
   - Simple: To take the metal coating off a plated object, often using acid or electricity.
   - _The refinisher uses a mild acid to strip the nickel from the antique fittings._
   - _Electrolytic baths strip the plating from rejected parts before they are recoated._
26. To draw the final milk from a cow by stroking and compressing the teats.
   - Simple: To get the last milk from a cow by gently squeezing and pulling the teats.
   - _Dairy hands strip each cow after the machine finishes, emptying the udder._
   - _She learned to strip the teats slowly, coaxing out the richest milk._
27. To remove from an opponent all the cards of a particular suit, leaving them unable to follow it.
   - Simple: To make another player use up all their cards in one suit.
   - _Declarer aimed to strip West of his clubs before throwing him in._
   - _By the tenth trick she had managed to strip both defenders of diamonds._
30. To pick the cured leaves from tobacco stalks and tie them into bundles known as 'hands'.
   - Simple: To pull the dried leaves off tobacco stalks and tie them into small bundles.
   - _Hired hands strip the cured tobacco and bind the leaves into neat hands._
   - _After curing, the growers strip each stalk and sort the leaves by grade._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A shot in which the bullet or shell leaves a rifled barrel without spinning because it failed to grip the grooves.
- (noun) An options strategy that buys a call and two puts on one security at an identical strike price, like a straddle but betting more on a fall.
- (verb) To send a bullet or shot through a rifle's barrel so that it slips past the grooves and comes out without spinning.
- (verb) Of a bullet or shell, to leave a rifled barrel without taking on spin from its grooves.
- (verb) To squeeze mature eggs or sperm from fish so people can fertilize the eggs artificially.
- (verb) To get past or ahead of something, leaving it behind.
- (verb) To clean the clogged wire teeth of a carding machine or hand card by removing trapped fiber and fluff.
- (verb) To pull the tough central rib out of each tobacco leaf before processing.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 6–7, 10, 16–19, 28–29** — This may be an alteration of "stripe," or it may come from Middle Low German "strippe," whose ultimate origin is uncertain: perhaps from a lost strong verb, Proto-Germanic *strīpaną, with no clear relatives outside Germanic except Irish "sríab" (line, stripe).
**Meanings 3–5, 8–9, 11–15, 20–27, 30** — It comes from Middle English "strepen, strippen," from Old English "strīepan" (to plunder), from Proto-Germanic *strēpōną and the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)ter(h₁)- (to be stiff or rigid; to exert). It is probably related to German "Strafe" (deprivation, fine, punishment).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/strip (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).