tick

¹ American  

[tik] / tɪk /

noun

1. a slight, sharp, recurring click, tap, or beat, as of a clock.

2. Chiefly British Informal. a moment or instant.

3. a small dot, mark, check, or electronic signal, as used to mark off an item on a list, serve as a reminder, or call attention to something.

4. Stock Exchange.

   1. a movement in the price of a stock, bond, or option.

   2. the smallest possible tick on a given exchange.

5. Manège. a jumping fault consisting of a light touch of a fence with one or more feet.

6. a small contrasting spot of color on the coat of a mammal or the feathers of a bird.

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verb (used without object)

• ticks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ticked,
  past participle,  past
• ticking
  present participle

1. to emit or produce a tick, like that of a clock.

2. to pass as with ticks of a clock.

   The hours ticked by.

verb (used with object)

• ticks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• ticked,
  past participle,  past
• ticking
  present participle

1. to sound or announce by a tick or ticks.

   The clock ticked the minutes.

2. to mark with a tick or ticks; check (usually followed byoff ); to tick off the items on the memo.

verb phrase

1. tick off

   1. to make angry.

      His mistreatment of the animals really ticked me off.

   2. Chiefly British. to scold severely.

      The manager will tick you off if you make another mistake.

idioms

1. what makes one tick, the motive or explanation of one's behavior.

   The biographer failed to show what made Herbert Hoover tick.

tick ² American  

[tik] / tɪk /

noun

1. any of numerous bloodsucking arachnids of the order Acarina, including the families Ixodidae and Argasidae, somewhat larger than the related mites and having a barbed proboscis for attachment to the skin of warm-blooded vertebrates: some ticks, as the deer tick, are vectors of disease.

2. sheeptick.

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tick ³ American  

[tik] / tɪk /

noun

1. the cloth case of a mattress, pillow, etc., containing hair, feathers, or the like.

2. ticking.

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tick ⁴ American  

[tik] / tɪk /

noun

1. a score or account.

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idioms

1. on tick, on credit or trust.

   We bought our telly on tick.

tick ¹ British  

/ tɪk /

noun

1. a recurrent metallic tapping or clicking sound, such as that made by a clock or watch

2. informal a moment or instant

3. a mark ( ) or dash used to check off or indicate the correctness of something

4. commerce the smallest increment of a price fluctuation in a commodity exchange. Tick size is usually 0.01% of the nominal value of the trading unit

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verb

1. to produce a recurrent tapping sound or indicate by such a sound

   the clock ticked the minutes away

2. to mark or check (something, such as a list) with a tick

3. informal the basic drive or motivation of a person

tick ² British  

/ tɪk /

noun

1. informal account or credit (esp in the phrase on tick )

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tick ³ British  

/ tɪk /

noun

1. any of various small parasitic arachnids of the families Ixodidae ( hard ticks ) and Argasidae ( soft ticks ), typically living on the skin of warm-blooded animals and feeding on the blood and tissues of their hosts: order Acarina (mites and ticks) See also sheep tick

2. any of certain other arachnids of the order Acarina

3. any of certain insects of the dipterous family Hippoboscidae that are ectoparasitic on horses, cattle, sheep, etc, esp the sheep ked

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tick ⁴ British  

/ tɪk /

noun

1. the strong covering of a pillow, mattress, etc

2. informal short for ticking

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tick Scientific  

/ tĭk /

1. Any of numerous small, parasitic arachnids of the suborder Ixodida that feed on the blood of animals. Like their close relatives the mites and unlike spiders, ticks have no division between cephalothorax and abdomen. Ticks differ from mites by being generally larger and having a sensory pit at the end of their first pair of legs. Many ticks transmit febrile diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.

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tick More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tick

• clock is ticking
• tight as a tick
• what makes one tick

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• ticking
  present
• ticked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tick
  simple
• ticks
  simple
• have ticked
  perfect
• has ticked
  perfect
• am ticking
  progressive
• are ticking
  progressive
• is ticking
  progressive
• have been ticking
  perfect progressive
• has been ticking
  perfect progressive

Past

• ticked
  simple
• had ticked
  perfect
• was ticking
  progressive
• were ticking
  progressive
• had been ticking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tick
  simple
• will have ticked
  perfect
• will be ticking
  progressive
• will have been ticking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of tick¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English tek “little touch”; akin to Dutch tik “a touch, pat,” Norwegian tikka “to touch or shove slightly”; see tickle

Origin of tick²

First recorded before 900; Middle English teke, tyke, Old English ticia, perhaps spelling error for tiica (i.e. tīca ) or ticca; akin to Low German tieke, German Zecke

Origin of tick³

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tikke, teke, tyke (cognate with Dutch tijk, German Zieche ), ultimately derived from Latin tēca, thēca, from Greek thḗkē “case”

Origin of tick⁴

First recorded in 1635–45; short for ticket

Explanation

To tick is to make a steady tapping sound. When something ticks — be it a clock, a watch, an oven timer, or a metronome — it’s usually a reminder that time is passing. The verb tick originally meant "to touch or pat." The current meaning may be related to the sound of a hand patting or tapping a surface. Another kind of tick is a small blood-sucking parasite. This nastier tick has a different root, the Old English ticia.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tick ticks ticked ticking

Nick Vyas, a supply chain expert and professor at USC Marshall School of Business, said that while companies try to absorb some of the cost increase, grocery prices are starting to tick up in stores.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Analysts had expected same-store sales to tick up 0.8%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

To complete the Scottish Mountaineering Club challenge, hikers must tick off every Munro, Munro Top, Corbett, Graham and Donald in Scotland - as well as every Furth in England, Wales and Ireland too.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

While rarely fatal, Lyme disease can cause rashes and flu-like symptoms among people who are bitten by an infected tick, and in some cases neurological problems.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

The table feels shorter and shorter with each tick of the clock.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

Gold ticks up 0.2% to $4,362 an ounce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

“Japan currently ticks all three of those boxes,” says Colvin.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Just this month, tularemia, also known as rabbit fever and caused by a bacterium in ticks and deer flies, was detected in people living on Long Island.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

The ticks are here, and I’m taking them seriously.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

He dropped the ball and proceeded to pick the feathers out of the shuttlecock, distastefully, as though removing ticks from a dog.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Following the auction results, the two-year yield ticked higher to 4.766% from 4.762%, according to Tradeweb.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

The Kiwi left-hander was being serenaded from the stands as the runs required ticked away, but he had to drag himself from the middle with 44 runs still needed.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Coventry had been stranded on 99 Premier League wins for over a quarter of a century before this victory ticked them over to three figures at long last.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Shares ticked up 1.7% to $41.25 in premarket trading.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

As the days ticked by, Mother occupied herself by sewing secret linings into her coats to hide her jewelry.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

It will help those returning from injury to get minutes in the bank, and keep other members of the squad ticking over.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Treasury yields mostly rose, with 10-year yields ticking up to 4.948% and heading toward the 5% level hit earlier this week, while two-year yields added 2.2 basis points to trade at 4.705%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Shares fell 8% yesterday and are ticking lower in premarket trading.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

"These buildings are nothing but ticking time bombs," said Ahmed Al-Ajla, whose uncle and other relatives were killed in the collapse.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

It made a ticking noise as it churned through Enigma settings at incredible speed, eliminating wrong solutions far faster than possible by hand.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin