Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Sense: 1-2,4
Origin: Old English stracian
Sense: 3
Date: 1900-2000
Origin: STROKE1

stroke

2 verb
     
stroke
stroke2 [transitive]
1 to move your hand gently over something:
He reached out and stroked her cheek tenderly.
2 [always + adverb/preposition] to move something somewhere with gentle movements of your hand:
He lifted her face and stroked her hair from her eyes.
3 [always + adverb/preposition] to hit or kick a ball with a smooth movement in games such as tennis, golf, and cricket:
He stroked the ball into an empty net with a minute to go.
4

stroke somebody's ego

to say nice things to someone to make them feel good, especially because you want something from them
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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