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Ick
Definitions
- 1 Icky; distasteful or unpleasant. informal
"'It's a bit ick, to be honest, but Rochelle thought it would be funny. Last year we did dragon's diarrhoea, with Tia Maria and chocolate Angel Delight, but nobody would touch it.'"
- 1 An exclamation of disgust.
"Lizzie grabbed a frog out of the lake and put it in her hair! Ick!"
- 1 Something distasteful or physically unpleasant to touch. informal, uncountable
"Like it wasn't bad enough that I was soaked to the bone, now I had to lug an ick covered designer original across a puddle filled runway."
- 2 Alternative form of ich (“fish disease”). alt-of, alternative, uncountable
- 3 Initialism of inhibitor cystine knot. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"The composition of the venoms of the first three is dominated by short (3–9-kDa) disulfide-rich peptides that contain the inhibitor cysteine knot (ICK) motif, although heavier proteins, including enzymes, are also present. ICK peptides are structurally very stable and mainly target the nervous system, acting primarily on membrane channels or neuronal receptors^(3,4,5)."
- 4 A feeling of revulsion. countable, informal, uncountable
"to have the ick"
- 5 Anything moaned about; a gripe. countable, slang, uncountable
"How can you stand such an ick ?"
- 1 A sudden feeling of disgust toward a crush or partner. slang, dating, 2020s
"Chewing with mouth open gave me the ick."
Etymology
Probably imitative. First use appears c. 1942.
Back-formation from icky.
Back-formation from icky.
Probably a pronunciation spelling, but no doubt influenced by the other etymologies and distaste for the disease.
See also for "ick"
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