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Tick

//tɪk// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
A tiny woodland arachnid of the suborder Ixodida.
"Sucking up all you can / Sucking up all you can suck and suck / Working up under my patience like a little tick / Fat little parasite (parasite) / Suck me dry / My fruit is bruised and borrowed / You thieving bastards / You have turned my blood cold and bitter"
2
A relatively quiet but sharp sound generally made repeatedly by moving machinery.
"The steady tick of the clock provided a comforting background for the conversation."
3
Ticking. uncountable
4
Credit, trust. UK, colloquial, uncountable
"When he had no funds he went on tick. When he could get no credit he went without, and was almost as happy."
5
A goat. obsolete
"Tickhill, Tickham, Ticknock, Tickenhall Drive, Tickenhill Manor, Tickenhurst"

Show 15 more definitions

6
any of two families of small parasitic arachnids with barbed proboscis; feed on blood of warm-blooded animals wordnet
7
A mark on any scale of measurement; a unit of measurement.
"At midday, the long bond is up a tick."
8
A sheet that wraps around a mattress; the cover of a mattress, containing the filling. countable, uncountable
"She had an old tick for mattress that she stuffed with dried moss."
9
a light mattress wordnet
10
A jiffy (unit of time defined by basic timer frequency).
11
a mark indicating that something has been noted or completed etc. wordnet
12
A short period of time, particularly a second. colloquial
"I'll be back in a tick."
13
a metallic tapping sound wordnet
14
A periodic increment of damage or healing caused by an ongoing status effect.
15
Each of the fixed time periods, in a tick-based game, in which players or characters may perform a set number of actions.
16
A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement. Australia, British, Ireland, New-Zealand
"Indicate that you are willing to receive marketing material by putting a tick in the box"
17
A bird seen (or heard) by a birdwatcher, for the first time that day, year, trip, etc., and thus added to a list of observed birds.
"There are few birders who have not had stringy ticks on their lists at some stage."
18
A whinchat (Saxicola rubetra).
19
A tap or light touch.
20
A slight speck.

Verb

1
To make a clicking noise similar to the movement of the hands of an analog clock.
"As 2020 ticked over into 2021, some 240 worksites were active on HS2's Phase 1 route between London and the West Midlands."
2
To go on trust, or credit. intransitive
3
put a check mark on or near or next to wordnet
4
To make a tick or checkmark.
5
To give tick; to trust. transitive

Show 6 more definitions

6
sew wordnet
7
To work or operate, especially mechanically. informal, intransitive
"He took the computer apart to see how it ticked."
8
make a sound like a clock or a timer wordnet
9
To strike gently; to pat.
"Therefore you Preachers out vvith your ſvvords and ſtrike at the root; ſpeak againſt covetouſneſs, and cry out upon it. Stand not ticking and toying at the branches, nor at the boughs, for then there vvill be nevv boughs and branches ſpring again of them, but ſtrike at the root, […]"
10
make a clicking or ticking sound wordnet
11
To add (a bird) to a list of birds that have been seen (or heard). transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English tyke, teke, from Old English ticia (“parasitic animal, tick”), from Proto-West Germanic *tīkō, compare Dutch teek, German Zecke.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *tik, tek, tyche (“light touch, tap”), from the verb (see Etymology 3 below). Compare Dutch tik (“a pat, tap”), Middle High German zic (“a slight touch”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English ticken, tiken, probably from Old English *ticcian (“to touch, tap”), from Proto-West Germanic *tikkōn (“to touch, tap”), cognate with German zecken (“to nudge, poke, jab”). Doublet of tig.

Etymology 4

From Middle English tike, probably from Middle Dutch tike and Middle Low German teke, both ultimately from Latin theca (“cover”). Compare also German Zieche (“duvet, pillowcase”).

Etymology 5

Clipping of ticket.

Etymology 6

Clipping of ticket.

Etymology 7

From Middle English tik-, tic-, tike-, tiken- (in compounds), an unassibilated form of Middle English tiche, tichen (“young goat”), from Old English tiċċen (“young goat; kid”), from Proto-West Germanic *tikkīn (“goatling”), diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *tigā (“goat”). Cognate with regional German Zicke (“nanny goat”), from Ziege (“goat; nanny goat”).

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