wick

¹ American  

[wik] / wɪk /

noun

1. a bundle or loose twist or braid of soft threads, or a woven strip or tube, as of cotton or asbestos, which in a candle, lamp, oil stove, cigarette lighter, or the like, serves to draw up the melted tallow or wax or the oil or other flammable liquid to be burned.

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verb (used with object)

1. to draw off (liquid) by capillary action.

wick ² American  

[wik] / wɪk /

noun

Curling.

1. a narrow opening in the field, bounded by other players' stones.

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wick ³ American  

[wik] / wɪk /

noun

1. British Dialect. a farm, especially a dairy farm.

2. Archaic. a village; hamlet.

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Wick ⁴ American  

[wik] / wɪk /

noun

1. a town in the Highland region, in N Scotland: herring fisheries.

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wick ¹ British  

/ wɪk /

noun

1. a cord or band of loosely twisted or woven fibres, as in a candle, cigarette lighter, etc, that supplies fuel to a flame by capillary action

2. slang to cause irritation to a person

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wick ² British  

/ wɪk /

adjective

1. lively or active

2. alive or crawling

   a dog wick with fleas

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Wick ³ British  

/ wɪk /

noun

1. a town in N Scotland, in Highland, at the head of Wick Bay (an inlet of the North Sea). Pop: 7333 (2001)

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wick ⁴ British  

/ wɪk /

noun

1. archaic a village or hamlet

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Other Word Forms

• wicking noun
• wickless adjective

Etymology

Origin of wick¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English wek(e), wik(e), wicke, Old English wēoce; cognate with Middle Dutch wiecke, Middle Low German wêke, weike, Old High German wioh, wiohha “lint, wick,” German Wieke, Wike “lint”

Origin of wick²

Origin uncertain

Origin of wick³

First recorded before 900; Middle English wik(e), wek(e), Old English wīc “residence, dwelling, house, village” (compare Old Saxon wīc, Old High German wîch ), from Latin vīcus “village, estate”; cognate with Greek oîkos, woîkos “house”

Example Sentences

He showed her how to use one of her shoelaces to fashion a wick.

From The Wall Street Journal

The candle on the night table was sputtering, the wick nearly gone.

From Literature

“As soon as it gets sweaty and wet, it actually wicks heat away from your body and makes you feel really cold and clammy.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Think Wile E. Coyote and the burning wick attached to a bundle of Acme dynamite that he’s certain will trap Road Runner but leaves him in ashes instead.

From Salon

Many centres use evaporative cooling systems, where water absorbs heat and evaporates - similar to how sweat wicks away heat from our bodies.

From BBC