rhythm vs stroke

rhythm

noun
  • The tempo or speed of a beat, song or repetitive event. 

  • A specifically defined pattern of such variation. 

  • A regular quantitative change in a variable (notably natural) process. 

  • Controlled repetition of a phrase, incident or other element as a stylistic figure in literature and other narrative arts; the effect it creates. 

  • The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter. 

  • A flow, repetition or regularity. 

  • The musical instruments which provide rhythm (mainly; not or less melody) in a musical ensemble. 

  • A person's natural feeling for rhythm. 

stroke

noun
  • One of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished. 

  • In Unicode: the formal name of the individual horizontal strikethroughs (as in "A̶"). 

  • A flattering or friendly act, comment, etc., done or made to a person to influence them. 

  • The action of hitting the ball with the bat; a shot. 

  • A masterful or effective action. 

  • The oblique, slash, or virgule ("/"). 

  • The movement of an oar or paddle through water, either the pull which actually propels the boat, or a single entire cycle of movement including the pull; also, the manner in which such movements are made; a rowing style. 

  • A beat or throb, as of the heart or pulse. 

  • An act of striking with a weapon; a blow. 

  • A single act of striking at the ball with a club; also, at matchplay, a shot deducted from a player's score at a hole as a result of a handicapping system. 

  • An act causing hurt or death, especially when seen as divine punishment. 

  • A point awarded to a player in case of interference or obstruction by the opponent. 

  • A gesture of assurance given as encouragement; specifically (psychoanalysis) in transactional analysis: a (generally positive) reaction expressed to a person which fulfils their desires or needs. 

  • A line making up a written character; specifically, a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean character. 

  • A damaging occurrence, especially if sudden; a blow, a calamity. 

  • A specific combination of movements of the arms and legs which, when repeated, causes the swimmer to advance through the water; also, the manner in which such movements are made; a swimming style. 

  • A movement of a brush in painting, of a chisel in carving, of a pen, pencil, or such implement in drawing or writing, etc., in one direction; hence, a line or mark made on a surface by such an implement. 

  • The hitting of a ball with a racket; also, the movement of the racket and arm that produces that impact. 

  • An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. 

  • An act, or the sound, of the clapper or hammer of a clock hitting a bell or other striking mechanism; hence, the time when such a strike occurs. 

  • An act of moving one's hand or an object along a surface in one direction, touching it lightly; a caress. 

  • A thrust of the penis during sexual intercourse. 

  • A single movement or thrust of a part (such as a piston) of a machine that moves back and forth; also, the length of this movement. 

  • A single movement with a tool; also, an impact of a tool on an object. 

  • The loss of brain function arising when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted. 

  • An amount of work; specifically, a large amount of business or work. 

  • A distinctive expression in a written composition; a touch. 

  • A powerful or sudden effort by which something is done or produced; also, something accomplished by such an effort; an achievement, a feat. 

  • The rower who is nearest the stern of the boat, the movement of whose oar sets the rowing rhythm for the other rowers; also, the position in the boat occupied by this rower. 

  • An individual discharge of lightning, particularly if causing damage. 

verb
  • To move one's hand or an object (such as a broom or brush) along (a surface) in one direction, touching it lightly; to caress. 

  • Chiefly followed by out: to suffer loss of brain function when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly interrupted; to have a stroke (noun sense 4). 

  • Followed by out or through: to draw a line or lines through (text) to indicate that it is deleted; to cancel, to strike or strike out. 

  • To strike (the water) with one's arms and legs when swimming. 

  • To swim by making co-ordinated movements with the arms and legs. 

  • To give assurance to (someone) through encouragement. 

  • To give a finely fluted surface to (stone) by carving it with a tool. 

  • To milk (a cow or other animal); especially, to squeeze the teat of (a cow, etc.) to extract the last bit of milk from the udder; to strap (dialectal), to strip. 

  • Of a rower or a crew: to row at (a rate of a certain number of strokes (“movements of the oar through water”) per minute). 

  • To draw the horizontal line across the upright part (of the letter t). 

  • To bring (something) to a certain condition by stroking (sense 1). 

  • To influence (someone) by convincing or flattering them. 

  • To act as the stroke (“rower who is nearest the stern of the boat, the movement of whose oar sets the rowing rhythm for the other rowers”) of (a boat or its crew). 

  • To mark (something) with lines or stripes; to stripe. 

  • To hit or kick (the ball) with a flowing or smooth motion; also, to score (a goal, a point, etc.) by doing so. 

  • Of a bell or clock: to chime or sound to indicate (the hour, the time, etc.). 

How often have the words rhythm and stroke occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )