strike

noun [C] (STOP WORK)

/straɪk/

Definition

B2 a period of time when workers refuse to work because of an argument with an employer about working conditions, pay levels, or job losses: After last year's long and bitter strike, few people want further industrial action. Most of the workers have ignored their union's call for strike action. Some miners were calling for a nationwide strike in support of 20 colleagues who'd been fired. They have voted to stage lightning (= sudden and short) strikes in pursuit of their demands. We've voted to stage a series of one-day strikes. A wave of strikes swept the country. The result of the strike ballot will be known tomorrow morning.Industrial action on strike (UK also out on strike) › taking part in a strike: The city's bus drivers have been on strike for three weeks.Industrial action go on strike › to start to strike: All 2,500 employees went on strike in protest at the decision to close the factory.Industrial action

(Definition of strike noun (STOP WORK) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)