strokel (str ok)

[Formerly also stroak; A few strokes of his muscular arms, and he is reached by the launch and swings himself up into her bows. St. Nicholas , XVII. 834. In a stroke or two the canoes were away out in the middle of the Scheldt. R. L. Stevens on, Inland Voyage, p. 11. To wake the soul by tender strokes of art. Add is on, Cato, Prol. But the advance in double column against the combined fleets was a stroke of genius as affairs stood. The Academy, June 28, 1890, p. 437. 12t. Capacity for doing anything; effective ability; skill in action or manipulation. Neither can any man be entertained as a Soldier that has not a greater stroke than ordinary at eating. Dampier , Voyages, II. i. 71. 13t. Moving or controlling power; influence; sway; ascendancy; standing; importance. They.. which otherwise have any stroke in the disposition of such preferments. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 81. In this new state of government. Appius was the man that bare the greatest stroke; he ruled the rost and swaied all the rest. Holland, tr. of Livy (ed. 1600), p. 109. A stroke above, a degree above; of somewhat higher grade or quality than. [Colloq.] Dickens. She was a stroke above the other girls. stroking Indoor stroke. See outdoor , 3. - Split stroke. See split . Stroke of the glottis. See glottis . - To keep stroke, in rowing , to move the oars in unison. strokel (str ok), v. t.; pret. and pp. stroked, ppr. stroking. [ The Yale crew have lost their stroke. He stroked the university crew to victory in six races.