misstrokeEtymologyFrom mis- + stroke.nounAn instance of misstroking; a misstrike.“To sit in your light shell of a boat, in mid-current, with rocks on either side, where the bed of the river declines at an angle of thirty degrees, knowing that a miscalculation of the eye, a misstroke of the oar or the least shaking of the muscles will send your boat rolling over and over, and you under it, has a very strong tendency to make a man look sharp and keep his wits about him.”verbTo stroke badly. (any sense)“One day the answer came, as I was coaching a pupil who kept up a running conversation as he persistently misstroked the ball.”