strafe

verb

ˈstrāf 

especially British ˈsträf

strafed; strafing

transitive verb

: to rake (ground troops, an airfield, etc.) with fire at close range and especially with machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft

strafe noun

strafer noun

Examples of strafe in a Sentence

The planes strafed the town.

Recent Examples on the Web

Quality-of-life tweaks, strafing, and a hotel make the 3.0 update worth checking out. —Kallie Plagge, The Verge, 19 Jan. 2026

Ford Island Naval Air Base At least 181 Japanese planes started bombing and strafing airfields and ships in Pearl Harbor around 7:48 a.m. —Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 6 Dec. 2025

He’s been ordered to strafe a food riot in Bakersfield, California, and kill anything that moves. —T. M. Brown, New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2025

Nor have her sentences lost their capacity to circle and strafe their subjects, to fly above them, to feign disinterest for a clause or a paragraph before landing on them with comic force. —Paul McAdory, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

German Gott strafe England may God punish England, German propaganda slogan during World War I

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for strafe

• chafe
• safe
• waif
• unsafe
• vouchsafe

Kids Definition

strafe

verb

ˈstrāf 

strafed; strafing

: to fire on at close range and especially with machine guns from low-flying airplanes

strafed the village

strafer noun