How to Use downstroke in a Sentence

downstroke

noun
  • Press it once to power the bike on and make the motor ready to assist the next pedal downstroke.
    — Thomas Ricker, The Verge, 6 Sep. 2018
  • During the downstroke, the lamellae close up so that the birds can generate more power to fly.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 20 Jan. 2023
  • Findings show the downstroke of both pairs of flippers proved more powerful than the upstroke.
    — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 21 June 2022
  • By observing smoke added to the wind, the researchers noticed the dragonflies twisted their wings on each downstroke.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 20 July 2019
  • With each powerful downstroke of your pedals, your core temperature climbs a tiny fraction of a degree.
    — Peter Stark, Outside Online, 25 June 2013
  • In our hippogriff, the muscles of the back drive the upstroke, and the muscles of the chest power the downstroke, just as in living bats and long-extinct pterosaurs.
    — Michael B. Habib, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2021
  • Instead, butterfly wings bend, which researchers suspected might cup air between them to strengthen their downstroke.
    — Rachael Lallensack, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Dec. 2021
  • The receiving partner leads on rocking with the upstroke and the penetrating partner leads on the downstroke.
    — Dr. Nan Wise, Glamour, 19 Mar. 2021
  • Clip-ins are cycling shoes that connect to a bike's pedals via little metal or plastic cleats so that the rider can use leg power on the upstroke as well as the downstroke.
    — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, 6 Mar. 2017
  • Whereas ordinary birds pull themselves aloft with just the downstroke of their wings, insects and hummers generate lift in both directions.
    — Jonathon Keats, Discover Magazine, 21 June 2019
  • The crested pigeon’s unusually narrow eighth primary wing feather produced a distinct high note with each downstroke.
    — Charles Choi, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2017
  • The wing segments close during the following downstroke to create a more powerful downstream force; the smaller the bird robot makes itself, by contracting its wings, the less friction.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 9 July 2020
  • Krahl credits the evolution of four uniform wing-like flippers for the Plesiosaur’s ability to twist and produce a powerful downstroke to propel itself with force underwater.
    — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 21 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'downstroke.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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