strike down

verb

struck down; struck down also stricken down; striking down; strikes down

transitive verb

: annul, nullify

the board struck down the appointment

especially : to declare (a law) illegal and unenforceable

the Supreme Court struck down the law

Synonyms

• abolish
• repeal
• cancel
• set aside
• roll back
• avoid
• overturn

Examples of strike down in a Sentence

a law that was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutional

Recent Examples on the Web

The change is similar to actions in other states that repeatedly were struck down as unconstitutional for violating the public's First Amendment right to access information without government suppression. —Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Defense kept Charlotte competitive Charlotte did itself no favors to open the game, allowing North Carolina to score the game’s first points in just three plays, with North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez finding wideout Chris Culliver for a 51-yard strike down the visitor’s sideline. —Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 7 Sep. 2025

If struck down, the duties would impact just roughly 16%. —Erin Doherty, CNBC, 7 Sep. 2025

California had a law that said most people could not buy more than one firearm in a 30-day period, but a federal court of appeals struck down the law in June. —Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 7 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1779, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for strike down

• chinatown
• tumbledown
• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown

Kids Definition

strike down

verb

: to make null and void : annul

struck down the proposal

especially : to declare (a law) illegal and unenforceable

the court struck down the law

Legal Definition

strike down

transitive verb

: annul, nullify

the trustee…can strike down transfers

—J. J. White and R. S. Summers

especially : to declare (a law) illegal and unenforceable

the court struck down death penalty provisions

—L. H. Tribe