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Lick

//lɪk// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Noun

1
The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.
"The cat gave its fur a lick."
2
An instance or opportunity to earn money fast, usually by illegal means, thus a heist, drug deal etc. or its victim; mostly used in phrasal verbs: hit a lick, hit licks
"Bitch, pig, pull out with the stick / everything I hit like a lick / We don’t miss"
3
(boxing) a blow with the fist wordnet
4
The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick.
"Give me a lick of ice cream."
5
touching with the tongue wordnet

Show 10 more definitions

6
A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue.
"a lick of paint"
7
a salt deposit that animals regularly lick wordnet
8
A place where animals lick minerals from the ground.
"The birds gathered at the clay lick."
9
A small watercourse or ephemeral stream. It ranks between a rill and a stream.
"We used to play in the lick."
10
A stroke or blow. colloquial
"Hit that wedge a good lick with the sledgehammer."
11
A small amount; a whit. colloquial
"You don't have a lick of sense."
12
An attempt at something. informal
"Well, my album did well, but "Ruby" was a timely song and that wasn't the time for it to step out. […] Then Waylon Jennings took a lick at it on an album, and my old buddy Roger Miller covered it, too, in his album. And although they're outstanding artists, nothing much happened with the song."
13
A short motif.
"There are some really good blues licks in this solo."
14
A rate of speed. (Always qualified by good, fair, or a similar adjective.) informal
"The bus was travelling at a good lick when it swerved and left the road."
15
An act of cunnilingus. slang
"You up for a lick tonight?"

Verb

1
To stroke with the tongue. transitive
"The cat licked its fur."
2
find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of wordnet
3
To lap; to take in with the tongue. transitive
"She licked the last of the honey off the spoon before washing it."
4
take up with the tongue wordnet
5
To beat with repeated blows. colloquial, dated
""What a curious kind of a fool a girl is! Never been licked in school! Shucks! What's a licking! That's just like a girl -- they're so thin-skinned and chicken-hearted. […]""

Show 7 more definitions

6
beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight wordnet
7
To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight. colloquial, dated
"My dad can lick your dad."
8
pass the tongue over wordnet
9
To overcome. colloquial, dated
"I think I can lick this."
10
To perform cunnilingus. slang, vulgar
11
To do anything partially. colloquial
12
To lap.
"Now, in this decadent age the art of fire-making had been altogether forgotten on the earth. The red tongues that went licking up my heap of wood were an altogether new and strange thing to Weena."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; not paralleled in any other Germanic language. See also Saterland Frisian likje, Dutch likken, German lecken; also Old Irish ligid, Latin lingō (“lick”), ligguriō (“to lap, lick up”), Lithuanian laižyti, Old Church Slavonic лизати (lizati), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō), Old Armenian լիզեմ (lizem), Persian لیسیدن (lisidan), Sanskrit लेढि (léḍhi), रेढि (réḍhi).

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Back-formation from hit a lick, which see. Ultimately from liquor.

Etymology 4

North German surname, from a short/pet form of a name related to Leute (“people”); compare Leopold.

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