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

• abate
• abolish
• abrogate
• annul
• avoid
• cancel
• disannul
• dissolve
• invalidate
• negate
• null
• nullify
• quash
• repeal
• rescind
• roll back
• vacate
• void

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 previous Purdue bankruptcy settlement was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. —Alex Sundby june 17, CBS News, 17 June 2025

Kylie Minogue has announced the cancellation of four of her upcoming shows after being struck down with illness. —Caroline Frost, Deadline, 14 June 2025

This was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Jan. 19, 2021. —Matthew Glasser, ABC News, 12 June 2025

Judge Contreras’s decision came just one day after a federal court had struck down some of Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs. —John Cassidy, New Yorker, 9 June 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