Strikethrough is a typographical presentation of words with a horizontal line through their center.
This is an example.
It signifies one of two meanings. In ink-written, typewritten, or other non-erasable text, the words are a mistake and not meant for inclusion. When used on a computer screen, however, it indicates recently deleted information. It can also be used for humorous purposes; for example: "John Doe is
an idiot not so intelligent."
Computer methods
The HTML presentational inline element for strikethrough is
or
. The
semantic element represents deleted text, which user agents often render as a strikethrough. The BB Code for it is [s].
Using cascading style sheets (css) it would be
ABCDEF
ABCDEF
In
plain textIn computing, plain text is the contents of an ordinary sequential file readable as textual material without much processing, usually opposed to formatted text....
scenarios where markup cannot be used,
UnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
offers a number of
combining characterIn digital typography, combining characters are characters that are intended to modify other characters. The most common combining characters in the Latin script are the combining diacritical marks ....
s that achieve similar effects. The "long stroke overlay" (U+0336) results in an unbroken stroke across the text,
while "short stroke overlay" (U+0335) results in individually struck out characters:
Similarly, "short solidus overlay" (U+0337) results in diagonally struck out letters:
Precombined "struck through" characters in Unicode include ƀ, Đđ, Ǥǥ, Ħħ, Ɨɨ, Ɉɉ, Łł, Ɵɵ, Ŧ, ʉ, Ƶƶ, ƻ, ʡ, ʢ, Ғғ, Ҟҟ, Ұұ, Ҍҍ,
⊄In mathematics, especially in set theory, a set A is a subset of a set B if A is "contained" inside B. A and B may coincide. The relationship of one set being a subset of another is called inclusion or sometimes containment...
,
⊅SuperSet Software was a group founded by friends and former Eyring Research Institute co-workers Drew Major, Dale Neibaur, Kyle Powell and later joined by Mark Hurst...
, ∉. These usually have specific functions or representations and are not intended for general use.
Previous uses
In medieval manuscripts, "strikethrough" of text with red ink often functions as highlighting (e.g.
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, c.f.
this image).
Double/multiple strikethrough
Double strikethrough is an option in certain
word processingWord processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
applications such as
Microsoft WordMicrosoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
. There is no generally agreed meaning of double strikethrough, but it may be used as a second level of single strikethrough.
Double, triple or multiple strikethrough may also (especially formerly) be used as a way of
emphasisingIn typography, emphasis is the exaggeration of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text—to emphasize them.- Methods and use :...
words. In this function it is likely to be misunderstood by the reader.