v. slang. [From the Ger. phrase Gott strafe England, ‘God punish England,’ a common salutation in Germany in 1914 and the following years.] trans. Used (originally by British soldiers in the war against Germany) in various senses suggested by its origin: To punish; to do damage to; to attack fiercely; to heap imprecations on; also absol. Also Strafe sb., a fierce assault.
1916. Times Lit. Suppl., 10 Feb., 62/1. The Germans are called the Gott-strafers, and strafe is becoming a comic English word.
1916. Blackw. Mag., Feb., 284/1. Intermittent strafes we are used to.
1916. MS. Let. fr. Front (Feb. or March). There is not much Hun artillery fire, but as our guns strafe them well every day, I expect they will wake up and return the compliment.
1916. Daily Mail, 1 Nov., 4/4. The word strafe is now almost universally used. Not only is an effective bombardment of the enemy’s lines or a successful trench raid described by Tommy as ‘strafing the Fritzes,’ but there are occasions when certain ‘brass hats’ … are strafed by imprecation. And quite recently the present writer heard a working-class woman … shout to one of her offspring ‘Wait till I git ’old of yer, I’ll strarfe yer, I will!’
