Dictionary — ontologydriven

misstroke en · NOUN

From mis- + stroke.

An instance of misstroking; a misstrike.
- To prevent the spears descending too far in case of a misstroke of the engine, and also to prevent them falling down the shaft in case of breakage, side or "banging" pieces of timber are bolted or strapped on to the spears at intervals down the shaft. 1908, Robert Peele, An Elementary Text-book of Coal Mining, page 287:
- While he was sketching Katya in pastel chalks, a sudden misstroke of the chalk and Mr Kidder cursed, tore the paper in two, flung the chalk down so that it shattered on the floor. 2010, Joyce Carol Oates, A Fair Maiden:
- To sit in your light shell of a boat, in mid-current, with rocks on either side, where the bed of the river declines at an angle of thirty degrees, knowing that a miscalculation of the eye, a misstroke of the oar or the least shaking of the muscles will send your boat rolling over and over, and you under it, has a very strong tendency to make a man look sharp and keep his wits about him. 1869, William Henry Harrison Murray, Adventures in the Wilderness: Or, Camp-life in the Adirondacks, page 79:
- Keying an incorrect letter results in a misstroke. Misstrokes are easy to overlook in long words or in such words as quarantee (incorrectly spelled with a q) for guarantee (correctly spelled with a g). 2010, Larry G. Pagel, Proofreading and Editing Precision, page 13:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
misstrokes	Number=Plur		lexicographic

From mis- + stroke.

To stroke badly. (any sense)
- You're taking out such small amounts of stone at any given time that it's not as if you're going to misstroke and blow out the center of an O. 2007, Judith Dupré, Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory, page 140:
- One day the answer came, as I was coaching a pupil who kept up a running conversation as he persistently misstroked the ball. 1941 June, Tom Stow, “Tennis Tips Form a Champion Maker”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 75, number 6, page 178:
- When it comes to typing, none of the strike-out artists among us has anything to write home about. But, for God's sake, if you're going to misstroke, do us the kindness of being as inventive as Mike. 1980, The Masthead - Volumes 32-34, page 45:
- Tamara had tried to introduce him to a few of the basic bridges, but he just dropped the cue across his knuckle and misstroked. 1992, Bruce Craven, Fast Sofa, page 79:

Spelling	Features	Source
misstroked	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
misstroked	Tense=Past	lexicographic
misstroking	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
misstrokes	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic