strafe
to attack (ground troops or installations) by airplanes with machine-gun fire.
Slang. to reprimand viciously.
(of a player character in a video game) to move sideways while keeping a target in view, rather than turning the body to face the character’s destination in a regular forward movement.
a strafing attack.
Origin of strafe
1Other words from strafe
- straf·er, noun
- un·strafed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use strafe in a sentence
Like most of our heavy guns she has been christened by her crew and bears the punning inscription, Lizzie, Somme Strafer.
The Western Front | Muirhead BoneA second Nazi would-be ground strafer seemed to jump straight up in the air.
Dave Dawson with the Commandos | R. Sidney BowenA good "strafer" goes over a wound with the enthusiasm of a thrush with a large family going over a lawn for worms.
G. H. Q. | Frank FoxHe was known as 'Strafer Robinson' on account of being physical drill instructor, and a pretty exacting one.
Q.6.a and Other places | Francis BuckleyThree of us, led by our famous Hun-strafer,52102 used them over the lines for the first time on the 5th.
Sixty Squadron R.A.F. | Group-Captain A. J. L. Scott
British Dictionary definitions for strafe
/ (streɪf, strɑːf) /
to machine-gun (troops, etc) from the air
slang to punish harshly
an act or instance of strafing
Origin of strafe
1Derived forms of strafe
- strafer, noun
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
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