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 of strike down

• 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 country’s Supreme Court, while occasionally striking down discriminatory measures against Palestinians, has bowed to security rationales that permit the broader settlement enterprise to proceed. —Arie Perliger, The Conversation, 12 Dec. 2025

Trump has vowed to use other emergency tariff measures if the Supreme Court strikes down his IEEPA tariffs. —Kent Jones, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025

By mid-October, a federal administrative body called the Board of Immigration Appeals struck down the judge's order granting Cirrus Rojas bond. —Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 11 Dec. 2025

His administration put pressure on universities and public schools, threatening to withhold federal funding from those that have DEI programs, though a judge struck down some of those efforts in August. —Rachel Treisman, NPR, 11 Dec. 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