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strip¹

(strĭp)

v. stripped, strip·ping, strips

v.tr.

a. To remove clothing or covering from: stripped the beds.

b. To remove or take off (clothing or covering): stripped off his shirt.

c. To remove an exterior coating, as of paint or varnish, from: stripped the cabinets.

d. To remove the leaves from the stalks of (tobacco, for example).

e. To clear of a natural covering or growth; make bare: strip a field.

a. To deprive of possessions, office, rank, privileges, or honors; divest: The court stripped him of his property.

b. To rob of wealth or property; plunder or despoil: stripped the palace of its treasures.

a. To remove equipment, furnishings, or accessories from: They stripped down the car to reduce its weight.

b. To remove nonessential detail from; reduce to essentials: The director stripped down her style of filmmaking.

c. To dismantle (a firearm, for example) piece by piece.

4. To damage or break the threads of (a screw, for example) or the teeth of (a gear).

a. To draw and discard the first drops of milk from the udder of (a cow or goat, for example) at the start of milking.

b. To draw the last drops of milk from the udder of (a cow or goat, for example) at the end of milking.

6. To extract the milt or roe from (a live fish).

7. To draw in (a fishing line) by hand, as between casts with a fly rod.

8. To mount (a photographic positive or negative) on paper to be used in making a printing plate.

v.intr.

a. To undress completely.

b. To perform a striptease.

2. To fall away or be removed; peel: The wallpaper strips away easily.

A striptease.

[Middle English stripen, from Old English -strȳpan, to plunder (in bestrȳpan).]

strippa·ble adj.

strip²

(strĭp)

a. A long narrow piece, usually of uniform width: a strip of paper; strips of beef.

b. A long narrow region of land or body of water.

2. A comic strip.

3. An airstrip.

4. An area, as along a busy street or highway, that is lined with a great number and variety of commercial establishments.

tr.v. stripped, strip·ping, strips

To cut or tear into strips.

[Middle English, perhaps from Middle Low German strippe, strap, thong.]

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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