wick

1
[ wik ]

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.

verb (used with object)
  1. to draw off (liquid) by capillary action.

Origin of wick

1
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”

Other words from wick

  • wickless, adjective

Words Nearby wick

Other definitions for wick (2 of 4)

wick2
[ wik ]

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

Origin of wick

2
Origin uncertain

Other definitions for wick (3 of 4)

wick3
[ wik ]

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

  2. Archaic. a village; hamlet.

Origin of wick

3
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”

Other definitions for Wick (4 of 4)

Wick
[ wik ]

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wick in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wick (1 of 4)

wick1

/ (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. get on someone's wick British slang to cause irritation to a person

Origin of wick

1
Old English weoce; related to Old High German wioh, Middle Dutch wēke (Dutch wiek)

Derived forms of wick

  • wicking, noun

British Dictionary definitions for wick (2 of 4)

wick2

/ (wɪk) /


noun
  1. archaic a village or hamlet

Origin of wick

2
Old English wīc; related to -wich in place names, Latin vīcus, Greek oîkos

British Dictionary definitions for wick (3 of 4)

wick3

/ (wɪk) /


adjectiveNorthern English dialect
  1. lively or active

  2. alive or crawling: a dog wick with fleas

Origin of wick

3
dialect variant of quick alive

British Dictionary definitions for Wick (4 of 4)

Wick

/ (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)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012