▪ I. streaking vbl. n.1
see streak v.1
▪ II. streaking, vbl. n.2
[streak v.2]
1. The action of streak v.2; concr. a series or arrangement of streaks.
| 1677 Coles Eng.-Lat. Dict., A Streaking, distinctio. a 1820 J. R. Drake Amer. Flag 8 She..striped its pure celestial white With streakings of the morning light. 1845 Lindley School Bot. (1866) 133 The sepals have a deep brown streaking at the back. 1898 G. W. Cable Grandissimes viii. 43 Hair en queue, the handsomer for its premature streakings of grey. |
b. Bacteriology. See streak v.2 2 b.
| 1910 Hiss & Zinsser Text-bk. Bacteriol. viii. 148 (heading) Separation of bacteria by surface streaking. 1949 Kelly & Hite Microbiology xi. 147 Though the streaking must be done carefully and according to some plan, it must be performed speedily. 1973 R. G. Krueger et al. Introd. Microbiol. iv. 169/1 Aerobic organisms..are inoculated onto the surface of the solidified medium by a procedure called streaking. |
2. Television. A picture condition in which the trailing edges of areas of a particular colour are extended by streaks of the complementary colour.
| 1956 Amos & Birkinshaw Television Engin. II. (caption facing p. 27) An image of test card C as reproduced by a video-frequency amplifier giving short-term streaking. 1975 B. Grob Basic Television (ed. 4) xix. 411 The streaking is especially evident trailing to the right after the edges of numbers or letters in the picture... The cause is phase distortion with time delay for low video frequencies up to about 200 kHz. |
3. Hairdressing. (See quot. 1966.)
| 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 144/1 Streaking, the bleaching of a few strands of hair in the coiffure. 1975 Time Out 30 May 63/4 (Advt.), Streaking including cut & blow {pstlg}5.50. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 3 Nov. 2/3 (Advt.), Fashion cutting, blow drying, shampoo and set and streaking. |
4. The act of running naked in a public place. Cf. streak v.2 6 d, streak n.2
| 1973 Time 10 Dec. 14/2 Another statistic in a growing Los Angeles-area fad: streaking. 1974 Washington Post 6 Mar. B 3 Lady Godiva established the political importance of streaking. 1977 D. Morris Manwatching 210 The phenomenon of ‘streaking’..is a strange example of an act that only has value as a deliberate Overexposed Signal. |