What does "strike the hours" mean?

[wotcha]

What does "strike the hours" mean?



???

 

[5jj]

Could tou please give us more context - it could mean several things.

 

[wotcha]

Could tou please give us more context - it could mean several things.

Then... it can be mean either "go on a strike" or "on time" depending on the context?

 

[5jj]

Then... it can be mean either "go on a strike" or "on time" depending on the context?

It's very unlikely to mean either of those.

 

[wotcha]

It's very unlikely to mean either of those.

I finally found the original text - Actually I came across the phrase when scoring my students' vocab tests.

The full sentence is "The big clock which used to strike the hours day and night was damaged during the war and has been silent ever since."

Well.. now I think I understand the meaning but I can't write it down in English clearly. ㅡ.ㅡ

 

[5jj]

The best way is as it is written. If you understand it, there is no need to change it.

If you needed to explain it, then you would have to say something like, "Every hour, a bell would ring once for each hour of the time; for example, at five o'clock, the bell would ring five times."