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strafe

(strāf)

tr.v. strafed, straf·ing, strafes

To attack (ground troops, for example) with a machine gun or cannon from a low-flying aircraft.

An attack of machine-gun or cannon fire from a low-flying aircraft.

[From German (Gott) strafe (England), (God) punish (England), a common World War I slogan, from strafen, to punish, from Middle High German strāfen, to contest, admonish.]

strafer n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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