strike up

verb

struck up; struck up also stricken up; striking up; strikes up

intransitive verb

: to begin to sing or play or to be sung or played

transitive verb

1

: to cause to begin singing or playing

strike up the band

2

: to cause to begin

strike up a conversation

Examples of strike up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Page Six reported that Fiebig and Shue struck up a bond over their experience with the scandal. — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026

By chance, Bialy located just such a map by striking up a conversation at a conference with the astrophysicist Troy Porter of Stanford University, who had made a map but had yet to publish it. — Perri Thaler, Quanta Magazine, 30 Oct. 2026

Even more important, Maria and Jane would strike up a friendship that would span decades and cross borders. — Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026

There are other niceties too, like room for luminous tritium vials on a spinning module that should delight eager fidgeters, and the SceptriX's ability to strike up a spark with a separate ferro rod and light a fire. — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 19 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1562, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for strike up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

strike up

verb

1

: to begin or cause to begin to sing or play

strike up the band

2

: to cause to begin

strike up a conversation