Definition of "stroke" []

• The act or an instance of striking, as with the hand, a weapon, or a tool; a blow or impact. (noun)
• The striking of a bell or gong. (noun)
• The sound so produced. (noun)
• The time so indicated: at the stroke of midnight. (noun)
• A sudden action or process having a strong impact or effect: a stroke of lightning. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But the war over, peace came, and came as a levin stroke from a clear sky the Great Refusal, the abdication by that nation of world leadership."
• "A frequent outcome after sustaining a stroke is a change in the muscles 'ability to move."
• "His only form of communication after the stroke is his ability to communicate by blinking through his one eye."