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

In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down the executive order as unconstitutional, or likely so, even after a Supreme Court ruling in late June that limited judges’ use of nationwide injunctions. —Preston Fore, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2025

Rizzo declined to comment on any potential campaign, pointing to ongoing efforts to strike down the map. —Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2025

That was the latest step in a lawsuit the group filed in July seeking to strike down the measure. —Jessie Opoien, jsonline.com, 25 Sep. 2025

The plaintiffs—three current students in Brooklyn yeshivas, their parents, and two former students—ask the courts to strike down a new law that relaxes oversight of nonpublic schools. —Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 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