Streaking Made the News in 1974
A streak is a long thin mark, or a run of luck. Running naked in public took the name in the early 1970s and briefly became a craze.
A streak is a long thin mark, a run of results, or a strain in someone's character. A fourth sense arrived suddenly: in 1973 and 1974 *streaking* — running naked through a public event — swept American campuses, reached the Academy Awards live on television, and gave the word a meaning that has never quite gone away. The verb had meant to move very fast since the 1700s.
- A long thin mark. *Streaks of rain on the glass.*
- A run of results. *A five-game winning streak.*
- A character trait. *A stubborn streak.*
- To move fast. *A cat streaked across the road.*
- To run naked in public. *Someone streaked at the final.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | streak | A grey streak. |
| Plural | streaks | Blonde streaks. |
| Verb | streak | It streaked past. |
| Adjective | streaky | Streaky bacon. |
| Agent | streaker | A lone streaker. |
- There are streaks of grey at his temples.Marks.
- The team's unbeaten streak ended in March.Sport.
- She has a ruthless streak.Character.
Streak collocations
- Winning streak — consecutive victories
- Losing streak — the opposite, and more often mentioned
- Lucky streak — a run of good fortune
- Mean streak — a cruel side to a person
- Streaky bacon — British for bacon with layers of fat
Old English *strica*, a line or mark, related to *strike*. The sense of a run of results is nineteenth-century American; the naked running sense dates from 1973.
When did streaking become popular?
It spread across American universities in 1973 and peaked in early 1974, including a famous interruption of the live Academy Awards broadcast.
Is streaky bacon the same as American bacon?
Broadly yes. British back bacon comes from the loin; streaky comes from the belly, like most American bacon.