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

There are several more landmark precedents that could be struck down in the months ahead. —Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2025

In the 2022 decision striking down a New York law requiring state residents to have a special need to carry weapons outside the home, the court said gun rules must be similar to a historical regulation on weapons to pass constitutional muster. —Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025

The court has frequently struck down laws that regulate the content of speech. —Timothy R. Holbrook, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2025

This column recently discussed a pending Supreme Court case that could strike down the Voting Rights Act’s remedy of creating majority-minority districts and result in the creation of even more Republican House seats. —Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 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