general strike


noun
  1. a mass strike in all or many trades and industries in a section or in all parts of a country.

Origin of general strike

1
An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use general strike in a sentence

  • During the general strike of 1897 the United Mine Workers made a beginning in organizing the anthracite miners.

  • It was called for the purpose of discussing a general strike of shirt-waist workers in New York City.

    Making Both Ends Meet | Sue Ainslie Clark and Edith Wyatt
  • A general strike involving all these men and women in the cloak making trade was declared on the 8th of July, 1910.

    Making Both Ends Meet | Sue Ainslie Clark and Edith Wyatt

British Dictionary definitions for general strike

general strike

noun
  1. a strike by all or most of the workers of a country, province, city, etc, esp (caps.) such a strike that took place in Britain in 1926

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for general strike

general strike

A strike of all of the workers in a nation or area. General strikes are usually brief and designed to show the unity of the working class.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.