strike down

verb

struck down; struck down also stricken down; striking down; strikes down

transitive verb

: annul, nullify

the board struck down the appointment

especially : to declare (a law) illegal and unenforceable

the Supreme Court struck down the law

Synonyms

• abate
• abolish
• abrogate
• annul
• avoid
• cancel
• disannul
• dissolve
• invalidate
• negate
• null
• nullify
• quash
• repeal
• rescind
• roll back
• vacate
• void

Examples of strike down in a Sentence

a law that was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as unconstitutional

Recent Examples on the Web

When the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban in May 2018, a handful of states were ready to go almost immediately. —Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 5 Nov. 2024

Spending has been highest in Florida, where voters will decide whether to return to the standard the state had in place before the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. —April Rubin, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024

Yet the outcome stands to dictate whether Louisiana’s map can survive in future years and carry broader repercussions for how remedial designs can be drawn once a court strikes down a map under the Voting Rights Act. —Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024

The rules, which included a last-minute requirement to hand count ballots, were struck down last week during a dizzying set of court cases. —Melissa Cruz, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1779, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

strike down

verb

: to make null and void : annul

struck down the proposal

especially : to declare (a law) illegal and unenforceable

the court struck down the law

Legal Definition

strike down

transitive verb

: annul, nullify

the trustee…can strike down transfers

—J. J. White and R. S. Summers

especially : to declare (a law) illegal and unenforceable

the court struck down death penalty provisions

—L. H. Tribe