Study the following dictionary meanings for the word strike.
1. strike (str i k) v. to hit something or somebody
2. strike v. to cancel something out, as in striking a sentence from a paragraph
3. strike n. an organized work stoppage by employees, generally members of a trade union
4. strike v. to move out or away in some direction or toward some goal
5. strike n. in baseball, a pitch missed by a batter
in the following paragraph, the word strike is used in three ways. indicate which dictionary definition
is appropriate for each one.
deciding to strike (1) out on his own, judd left missouri and hitchhiked to tacoma, washington. after
two days of walking the streets, he got a job in a plywood factory. the job was hard and dangerous.
the factory floor was dimly lit, and the noise from the chipping machines was terrible. by lunchtime,
he was exhausted, but not too tired to overhear workers at the next table. they were talking about
going out on strike (2). hearing enough to learn that the strike was planned for the next day, judd
realized he might be out of a job by the next morning. poor judd. that afternoon, after work, he
bought a newspaper. standing on a street corner, he searched the classified ads. it was beginning to
rain. pulling up the collar of his overcoat, judd muttered to himself, "that's life. sometimes you get a base hit, and sometimes strike (3) out”

1.strike (1)
2.strike (2)
3.strike(3)

Stike (v) To hit somebody or something

Strike(n) An organized work stoppage by employees, generally members of a trade union.

Explanation:

in the short story the slip-over sweater by jesse stuart, the main character and narrator shan is friends with grace, an intelligent girl he has known since childhood and with whom he used to be in love.

at the beginning of the story, shan believes he’s no longer in love with grace, but loves jo-anne instead. in order to buy a slip-over sweater and have jo-anne wear it so that the other students would know she loved him too, shan takes a loan at the bank.

while jo-anne is wearing shan’s sweater, his friend grace starts to wear another popular boy’s one, roy’s sweater. because of that, the other students begin to pay attention to grace and compliment her perseverance and effort. they admire her for walking 5 miles to school every day, despite the weather, and still getting the best grades. shan, who knows all of that for a fact, says, as the narrator, ‘and i knew she had the durability and the toughness of a storm-battered mountain oak.’ he compares his friend’s strength – not only physical, but also of character – to an oak tree, whose wood is known for being sturdy.

as the story goes on, shan changes his behavior out of concern for the debt he has to pay at the bank. his new girlfriend jo-anne never asks him what is wrong nor offers any sort of . instead, she breaks up with shan for not being as fun as she thought he was supposed to be. grace, however, not only asks about shan’s problem, but him make the money he needs. shan can’t but notice how different the girls are and what a wonderful person grace is.   even though he used to find jo-anne prettier at the beginning of the story, he now says, ‘grace was as beautiful as our mountain was in april, prettier than a blossom of wild phlox or a mountain daisy.’ his comparing grace to a mountain or something that exists on a mountain (such as a mountain oak or daisy) certainly has important meaning since shan loves the mountain and everything about it and he knows the mountain thoroughly. shan also loves and knows grace as completely as he does the mountain.