tick

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
Most cases are found in northeastern states during the spring months, when the tick is active.

View all »
Definitions (66)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (15)

  1. noun A light, sharp, clicking sound made repeatedly by a machine, such as a clock.
  2. noun Chiefly British A moment.
  3. noun A light mark used to check off or call attention to an item.
12 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (36)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (7)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (8)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • A minute went by—the tick was audible, but she moved not. —  The Ladies
  • Most cases are found in northeastern states during the spring months, when the tick is active. —  Paramus Post
  • I think I'd first look at the questioner quizzically for a tick, as if he'd just said, "By the way, I am Gondira, High Queen of Jupiter." any or several of the following eight responses, each of which engages or shifts the discussion to varying degrees. —  Biblical Christianity
  • I have heard of Marcella's perfectionism and getting an insight into what makes her tick was a story I wanted to read. —  Blogtimore, Hon
  • The bottom row is the American dog tick, which is not thought to transmit Lyme disease. —  Knox
More examples »
 

Tags

tick hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 162 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

tock ·  louse ·  flea ·  mosquito ·  vermin ·  cockroach ·  thud ·  mite ·  footfall ·  click ·  creak ·  pest

Used in the same contextWord Family

tick:   ticks ·  ticked ·  ticking
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (12)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. Middle English tek, light tap.
  2. Middle English teke, tik, perhaps from Old English *ticca.
  3. Middle English tikke, probably from Middle Dutch tīke, ultimately from Latin thēca, receptacle, from Greek thēkē; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.
  4. Short for ticket.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (8)

  1. Also dial. tig; from Middle English *ticken, tikken = Dutch tikken = Low German tikken, later G. ticken, touch lightly. pat; prob. a secondary form of Middle Dutch tucken, tocken, etc., touch (whence ult. English touch: see touch), or else ult. a secondary form of take, or of the form represented by Gothic (Moesogothic) tēkan, touch: see take, and cf. tag. The word has a diminutive effect, and with reference to sound is regarded as imitative (cf. tick-tack, tick-tock). Hence tick, n. Cf. tickle.
  2. Also dial. tig; from Middle English tek = Middle Dutch tick, Dutch tik = Low German tikk, a touch, pat, tick (cf. Italian tecca, a small spot, from Teutonic); from the verb.
  3. from Middle English tike, tyke, teke, from Anglo-Saxon *tica or *tīca (found once as ticia, apparently an error for *tiica, i. e. *tīca, or for *ticca) = Middle Dutch teke, teecke, Dutch teekt = Middle Low German Low German teke = Middle High German zeche, German zecke (cf. French tique = Italian zecca, from Teutonic), a tick. Cf. Armenian tiz, tick.
  4. Early modern English also teke, tike, from Middle English teke = Middle Dutch tijcke, Dutch tijk = Old High German ziecha, Middle High German G. zieche = Irish tīach, a case, tick, = Old Italian teca, a case, pod, = Old French taie, taye (later Middle English teye, English dial. tie, tye: see tie), a ease, box, coffer, tick, French taie, pillow-case, from Latin theca, Middle Latin also teca, techa, Greek θήκη, a case, box, chest, cover, sheath, from τιθἐναι (√ θε), put, place, = English do: see do, and cf. theca, the L. word in technical use.
  5. Abbr. of ticket.
  6. from tick, n.
  7. from Old French tic, a disease of horses: see tic.
  8. Said to be imitative.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/tɪk/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a week.

Recently looked up

sombre · idjit · swiftest · anil · Cloister

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

ultimatum · pew · deadpool · sad panda · nom nom nom