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Stick

//stɪk// adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Likely to stick; sticking, sticky. informal
"A non-stick pan. A stick plaster."

Proper Noun

1
The Chapman Stick, an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman.

Noun

1
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch. countable, uncountable
"The beaver's dam was made out of sticks."
2
The tendency to stick (remain stuck), stickiness. uncountable
3
The customary length (according to the material used) of a piece or roll of textile fabrics imported from Flanders. obsolete
4
A member of the Official IRA. Ireland
5
threat of a penalty wordnet

Show 61 more definitions

6
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A relatively long, thin piece of wood, of any size. countable, uncountable
"I found several good sticks in the brush heap."
7
The tendency to stick (remain stuck), stickiness.; The traction of tires on the road surface. countable, uncountable
8
marijuana leaves rolled into a cigarette for smoking wordnet
9
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A timber board, especially a two by four (inches). US, countable, uncountable
"I found enough sticks in dumpsters at construction sites to build my shed."
10
That which sticks (remains attached to another surface). uncountable
11
an implement consisting of a length of wood wordnet
12
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A cane or walking stick (usually wooden, metal or plastic) to aid in walking. countable, uncountable
"I don’t need my stick to walk, but it’s helpful."
13
That which sticks (remains attached to another surface).; The amount of fishing line resting on the water surface before a cast; line stick. countable, uncountable
"Problem: A lot of stick and a lack of energy on the forward stroke."
14
a long thin implement resembling a length of wood wordnet
15
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A cudgel or truncheon (usually of wood, metal or plastic), especially one carried by police or guards. countable, uncountable
"As soon as the fight started, the guards came in swinging their sticks."
16
A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab. countable
"What if Veronica Prego was lying about who drew the blood and it was her own carelessness, not Joyce Fogel's, which caused the needle stick?"
17
a lever used by a pilot to control the ailerons and elevators of an airplane wordnet
18
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; The vertical member of a cope-and-stick joint. countable, uncountable
"When cutting the door parts, I cut all the copes first, then the sticks."
19
a long implement (usually made of wood) that is shaped so that hockey or polo players can hit a puck or ball wordnet
20
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A mast or part of a mast of a ship; also, a yard. countable, uncountable
21
informal terms for the leg wordnet
22
An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.; A piece (of furniture, especially if wooden). countable, figuratively, uncountable
"We were so poor we didn't have one stick of furniture."
23
a rectangular quarter pound block of butter or margarine wordnet
24
Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance. countable, uncountable
"Sealing wax is available as a cylindrical or rectangular stick."
25
a small thin branch of a tree wordnet
26
Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.; A small rectangular block, with a length several times its width, which contains by volume one half of a cup of shortening (butter, margarine or lard). Canada, US, countable, uncountable
"The recipe calls for half a stick of butter."
27
Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.; A standard rectangular strip of chewing gum. countable, uncountable
"Don’t hog all that gum, give me a stick!"
28
Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.; A cigarette (usually a tobacco cigarette, less often a marijuana cigarette). countable, slang, uncountable
"Cigarettes are taxed at one dollar per stick."
29
Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.; A bunch of something wrapped around or attached to a stick. countable, uncountable
"My parents bought us each a stick of cotton candy."
30
Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.; A scroll that is rolled around (mounted on, attached to) a stick. archaic, countable, uncountable
"Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it[…]"
31
Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.; The structure to which a set of bombs in a bomber aircraft are attached and which drops the bombs when it is released. The bombs themselves and, by extension, any load of similar items dropped in quick succession such as paratroopers or containers. countable, uncountable
"Scores of transport planes streamed in to drop stick after stick of containers until the entire sky over the coast was polka-dotted with brightly coloured parachutes."
32
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; A manual transmission, a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, so called because of the stick-like, i.e. twig-like, control (the gear shift) with which the driver of such a vehicle controls its transmission. US, colloquial, countable, uncountable
"I grew up driving a stick, but many people my age didn't."
33
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; A manual transmission, a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, so called because of the stick-like, i.e. twig-like, control (the gear shift) with which the driver of such a vehicle controls its transmission.; Vehicles, collectively, equipped with manual transmissions. US, colloquial, uncountable
"I grew up driving stick, but many people my age didn't."
34
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; The control column of an aircraft; a joystick. (By convention, a wheel-like control mechanism with a handgrip on opposite sides, similar to the steering wheel of an automobile, can also be called the "stick", although "yoke" or "control wheel" is more commonly seen.) countable, uncountable
35
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; Use of the stick to control the aircraft. uncountable
"For example: in making a turn, should you throw on too much stick and not enough rudder, you'll sideslip."
36
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; An aircraft’s propeller. US, World-War-I, countable, slang, uncountable
37
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; A joystick. countable, uncountable
"The keyboard offers a full range of actions including Fight and you are given the option of using a Kempston stick for the movement combat."
38
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; A memory stick. countable, uncountable
"For ultimate presentation portability, a Powerpoint can be saved to a stick as images."
39
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; A handgun. countable, slang, uncountable
"A stick in the hand, a drop in the eye."
40
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; A composing stick, the tool used by compositors to assemble lines of type. countable, dated, uncountable
"[…]although the headings may often be in other type, still, as these are composed in the same stick, they cannot fail to justify;[…]"
41
A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.; The clarinet. countable, slang, uncountable
"Arsene, boy, ain't you worried about your clarinet? Where'd you leave that stick, man?"
42
A stick-like item:; A long thin implement used to control a ball or puck in sports like hockey, polo, and lacrosse. countable, uncountable
"Tripping with the stick is a violation of the rules."
43
A stick-like item:; The short whip carried by a jockey. countable, uncountable
44
A stick-like item:; A board as used in board sports, such as a surfboard, snowboard, or skateboard. countable, uncountable
45
A stick-like item:; The pole bearing a small flag that marks the hole. countable, uncountable
"His wedge shot bounced off the stick and went in the hole."
46
A stick-like item:; The cue used in billiards, pool, snooker, etc. US, slang, uncountable
"His stroke with that two-piece stick is a good as anybody's in the club."
47
A stick-like item:; The cue used in billiards, pool, snooker, etc.; The game of pool, or an individual pool game. US, countable, slang, uncountable
"He shoots a mean stick of pool."
48
Ability; specifically:; The long-range driving ability of a golf club. countable, uncountable
"I doubted that the three iron was enough stick."
49
Ability; specifically:; The potential hitting power of a specific bat. countable, uncountable
50
Ability; specifically:; General hitting ability. countable, uncountable
"Vaughn has to hit and keep hitting or this will be another year when the Mets don't have enough stick to win."
51
Ability; specifically:; The potential accuracy of a hockey stick, implicating also the player using it. countable, uncountable
52
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.) countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"Your father's a great old stick. He's really been very good to me."
53
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.); A thin or wiry person; particularly a flat-chested woman. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
""She's a stick, this one. She lacks your—" he patted her left breast— "equipment.""
54
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.); An assistant planted in the audience. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"The kid was a stick, a plant, a student from UNLV who picked up a few bucks nightly by saying the words "seven of hearts.""
55
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.); A shill or house player. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"A shill is also called a stick, and the role of the shill or stick is to make the customer relax and feel at ease."
56
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.); A stiff, stupidly obstinate person. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
57
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.); A fighter pilot. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"Bill Kirk, described by Robin as a "hell of a stick," didn't even attend college until after the Vietnam War."
58
A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.); A small group of (infantry) soldiers. South-Africa, countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"I remember when we dreaded the rain, as our stick of soldiers walked through the damp, tick-infested long grass of the Zambezi valley,[…]"
59
Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.; A negative stimulus or a punishment. (This sense derives from the metaphor of using a stick, a long piece of wood, to poke or beat a beast of burden to compel it to move forward.) countable, figuratively, uncountable
"We were tempted with the carrot but subtly threatened with the stick."
60
Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.; Corporal punishment, beatings slang, uncountable
"The child killers got some stick. I saw a woman throw a basin of scalding water over a baby killer."
61
Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.; Criticism or ridicule, often in the expressions "get a lot of stick", "get some stick", "come in for some stick", etc. British, countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Most people can remember their first taste of cider: sandwiched between an illicit fag and a bout of throwing up. It’s always been the teen drink of choice: available in group-sized bottles and with a more acceptably fruity taste than beer. It is also the down-and-out’s favourite tipple because it’s stronger than many bitters and lagers, so it’s a cheap way to get wasted. As a consequence, it has never been the hippest of drinks. As a devotee, I’ve come in for some stick over the years."
62
Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.; Vigor; spirit; effort, energy, intensity. countable, slang, uncountable
"He really gave that digging some stick."
63
Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.; Vigorous driving of a car; gas. countable, slang, uncountable
"Skunk really gave it some stick all the way to Caliban's place, we passed a good few Coppers but they all seemed to turn the blind eye."
64
A measure.; An English Imperial unit of length equal to 2 inches. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"There was another speech in that day's news — a speech which The Times printed on the front page because it was part of a front-page story, and in full — it was only two sticks long; printed in full just after the much longer invocation by the officiating clergyman […]"
65
A measure.; A quantity of eels, usually 25. archaic, countable, rare, uncountable
"The stick is employed for eels, and contained twenty-five."
66
Any of the eight 16-character groups making up the 128 characters of the 7-bit ASCII character set. countable, uncountable

Verb

1
To cut a piece of wood to be the stick member of a cope-and-stick joint.
2
To become or remain attached; to adhere. intransitive
"The tape will not stick if it melts."
3
be a mystery or bewildering to wordnet
4
To compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick. dated, slang, transitive
"to stick type"
5
To jam; to stop moving. intransitive
"The lever sticks if you push it too far up."

Show 37 more definitions

6
saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous wordnet
7
To furnish or set with sticks. transitive
8
To tolerate, to endure, to stick with. transitive
""I've had ten years of it, scratching enough out of it to dress and feed myself when the going's good and sharing a room with a girl friend or pigging it in some cheap boarding-house, and doing a perish when I've been out of a job. I've got to the point where I can't stick it any longer. I'd get out tomorrow if I could find something else to do.""
9
come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation wordnet
10
To hit with a stick.
11
To persist. intransitive
"His old nickname stuck."
12
stick to firmly wordnet
13
Of snow, to remain frozen on landing. intransitive
14
pierce or penetrate or puncture with something pointed wordnet
15
To remain loyal; to remain firm. intransitive
"Just stick to your strategy, and you will win."
16
pierce with a thrust using a pointed instrument wordnet
17
To hesitate, to be reluctant; to refuse (in negative phrases). dated, intransitive
"For thou art so possess’d with murderous hate That ’gainst thyself thou stick’st not to conspire."
18
put, fix, force, or implant wordnet
19
To be puzzled (at something), have difficulty understanding. dated, intransitive
"He that has to do with young scholars, especially in mathematics, may perceive how their minds open by degrees, and how it is exercise alone that opens them. Sometimes they will stick a long time at a part of a demonstration, not for want of perceiving the connection of two ideas; that, to one whose understanding is more exercised, is as visible as any thing can be."
20
fasten into place by fixing an end or point into something wordnet
21
To cause difficulties, scruples, or hesitation. dated, intransitive
"1708, Jonathan Swift, The Sentiments of a Church-of-England-Man, with respect to Religion and Government, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, 7th edition, Edinburgh: G. Hamilton et al., 1752, Volume I, Miscellanies in Prose, p. 73, […] this is the Difficulty that seemeth chiefly to stick with the most reasonable of those, who, from a mere Scruple of Conscience, refuse to join with us upon the Revolution Principle […] ."
22
fasten with or as with pins or nails wordnet
23
To attach with glue or as if by gluing. transitive
"Stick the label on the jar."
24
fasten with an adhesive material like glue wordnet
25
To place, set down (quickly or carelessly). transitive
"Stick your bag over there and come with me."
26
cover and decorate with objects that pierce the surface wordnet
27
To press (something with a sharp point) into something else. transitive
"The balloon will pop when I stick this pin in it."
28
be in a certain place and not leave wordnet
29
To press (something with a sharp point) into something else.; To stab. transitive
"In certain of their sacrifices they had a lamb, they sticked him, they killed him, and made sacrifice of him: this lamb was Christ the Son of God, he was killed, sticked, and made a sweet-smelling sacrifice for our sins."
30
be loyal to wordnet
31
To fix on a pointed instrument; to impale. transitive
"to stick an apple on a fork"
32
be a devoted follower or supporter wordnet
33
To adorn or deck with things fastened on as by piercing. archaic, transitive
"my shroud of white, stuck all with yew"
34
endure wordnet
35
To perform (a landing or a shot) perfectly. transitive
"Once again, the world champion sticks the dismount."
36
be or become fixed wordnet
37
To propagate plants by cuttings. transitive
"Stick cuttings from geraniums promptly."
38
To run or plane (mouldings) in a machine, in contradistinction to working them by hand. Such mouldings are said to be stuck. transitive
39
To bring to a halt; to stymie; to puzzle. dated, transitive
"to stick somebody with a hard problem"
40
To impose upon; to compel to pay; sometimes, to cheat. dated, slang, transitive
"Behind all that languid talk she was feverishly computing, "I wonder how much I can stick him for it. A hundred and fifty? But it's worth that - two hundred. He won't value it unless the price is stiff.""
41
To have sexual intercourse with. US, intransitive, slang
"You ain't lickin' this, you ain't stickin' this"
42
To stand pat: to cease taking any more cards and finalize one's hand. UK, intransitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod, twig”), from Old English sticca (“rod, twig”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stikke (“stick”), West Flemish stik (“stick”), German Low German Stick (“stick”). Related to stigma.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

From Middle English stiken (“to stick, pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *stikkōną (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tig-, *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). See also the related Proto-Germanic *stikaną, whence West Frisian stekke, Low German steken, Dutch steken, German stechen; compare also Danish stikke, Swedish sticka. Cognate with the first etymology (same PIE root, different paths through Germanic and Old English), to stitch, and to etiquette, via French étiquette – see there for further discussion.

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

Etymology 6

From Middle English stick, stik, steik, from Middle Dutch stic, stec, stuc (“piece”), from Old Dutch *stukki, from Proto-West Germanic *stukkī, from Proto-Germanic *stukkiją (“piece”). Cognate with German Stück (“piece”), Middle English stucche, sticche (“piece”).

Etymology 7

The Officials were known as the "Stickies" because they sold stick-on lilies to commemorate the Easter Rising. This was used to contrast from the nickname for the Provisionals, the pinnies (pejoratively pinheads), who used pinned-on lilies, though the latter nickname disappeared.

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