downstroke

American  

[doun-strohk] / ˈdaʊnˌstroʊk /

noun

1. a downward stroke, as of a machine part, piston, or the like.

2. a downward stroke in writing, often heavier and darker than an upward stroke.

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Etymology

Origin of downstroke

First recorded in 1850–55; down ¹ + stroke ¹

Example Sentences

The NBC broadcast picked up audio of a spectator yelling during Fish’s downstroke, and the shot was hooked right into the trees.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2023

The crowd soundtrack them with a few loud woahs ... so he teases them by stalling theatrically on the downstroke.

From The Guardian • Sep. 24, 2021

In our hippogriff, the muscles of the back drive the upstroke, and the muscles of the chest power the downstroke, just as in living bats and long-extinct pterosaurs.

From Scientific American • Apr. 9, 2021

On the downstroke, I thought I saw his mouth open, as if he were trying to breathe.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 14, 2019

Brokk counted, and at the bottom of the downstroke he whipped one hand from the bellows and swiped at the fly, with such speed and such strength that Loki barely escaped with his life.

From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman