streaky

Everyday

1. Streaky means having streaks: long thin lines or marks of a different colour, often uneven: streaky windows, streaky hair dye. tree →
2. (UK, Ireland, Australia) Streaky bacon is bacon with stripes of fat and meat, cut from the belly. tree →
3. (informal, sport) Streaky means not steady, sometimes very good and sometimes bad; in cricket, a streaky shot is a lucky edge. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life it describes cleaning, painting, hair and food. In art lessons streaky paint shows uneven strokes. In sport commentary, a "streaky" player has winning and losing streaks. Phrases: "streaky bacon", "streaky windows", "a streaky shot".

Examples

• I cleaned the window, but it's still streaky. tree →
• The paint dried streaky because I used too little. tree →
• Dad made sandwiches with streaky bacon. tree →
• Her fake tan went a bit streaky. tree →
• The sky was streaky with pink clouds. tree →
• His batting is streaky: one week great, the next week awful. tree →
• That was a streaky four off the edge of the bat. tree →

Note

Comparative: streakier, streakiest. "Streaky bacon" is a UK/Irish/Australian name; Americans just say "bacon". From "streak", a line or a run of wins or losses.