tickle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to touch or stroke lightly with the fingers, a feather, etc., so as to excite a tingling or itching sensation in; titillate.
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to poke some sensitive part of the body so as to excite spasmodic laughter.
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to excite agreeably; gratify.
to tickle someone's vanity.
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to excite amusement in.
The clown's antics really tickled the kids.
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to get, move, etc., by or as by tickling.
She tickled him into saying yes.
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to stroke the underbelly of (a fish, especially a trout) until it goes into a trancelike state, making it possible to scoop it out of the water: the ability to tickle a fish, often contested as more mythical than actual, has been written of and embellished on since ancient times.
He tickled that fish until it stopped moving, and the next thing I knew, we were having trout for dinner!
verb (used without object)
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to be affected with a tingling or itching sensation, as from light touches or strokes.
I tickle all over.
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to produce such a sensation.
noun
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an act or instance of tickling.
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a tickling sensation.
idioms
verb
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to touch, stroke, or poke (a person, part of the body, etc) so as to produce pleasure, laughter, or a twitching sensation
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(tr) to excite pleasurably; gratify
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(tr) to delight or entertain (often in the phrase tickle one's fancy )
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(intr) to itch or tingle
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(tr) to catch (a fish, esp a trout) by grasping it with the hands and gently moving the fingers into its gills
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informal to please greatly
he was tickled pink to be elected president
noun
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a sensation of light stroking or itching
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the act of tickling
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(in the Atlantic Provinces) a narrow strait
Usage
What is a basic definition of tickle? Tickle means to touch sensitive body parts in order to cause laughter, to stroke lightly to cause an itching sensation, or to excite. Tickle has several other senses as a verb and a noun. You might tickle your baby brother as part of playing to get him to laugh. Tickling involves touching sensitive body parts, such as the stomach or armpits, to cause involuntary laughter. It is usually done with the fingers, fingernails, or a feather. If someone is especially easy to make laugh by tickling, they are said to be ticklish.
- Real-life examples: Parents often tickle babies or their children to make them laugh or cheer them up. Kids might tickle each other while playing. A person should always have permission before they tickle you.
- Used in a sentence: When my daughter is sad, I can usually cheer her up by tickling her.
- Real-life examples: An uncomfortable sweater may tickle your neck. A pleasant smell can tickle your nose. A bug bite on your leg may cause your leg tickle.
- Used in a sentence: The wind tickled the hairs on the back of my neck.
- Used in a sentence: I felt a slight tickle on my knee after going through the poison ivy bush.
- Used in a sentence: The gorgeous dress tickled her sense of style.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tickle
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tikelen; further origin uncertain; perhaps frequentative of tiken “to touch lightly”; see origin at tick 1 (in obsolete sense “to touch lightly”)
Explanation
When you tickle someone, you touch them in a way that makes them laugh and squirm. It's impossible to tickle yourself—you can only tickle others. You might tickle a baby to make him squeal and giggle, and the sensation he feels is also called a tickle. An itching sensation is also sometimes referred to as a tickle, like a tickle in your throat when you're getting sick. Colloquially, you can tickle someone (or tickle them pink) by delighting them: "It tickles me when you surprise me with cupcakes!" Some experts suspect that this word comes from the Scots kittle, "to tickle."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s a paradox that you can use all kinds of internet services in most of the country,” said Jonny Tickle, a British national living in Moscow.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
Their collector status, celebrity validation, high resale value, and traffic-driving blind-box releases craft an echo of past trends like Beanie Babies or Tickle Me Elmos.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2025
If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the Cabbage Patch doll frenzy in the mid-’80s, the Tickle Me Elmo craze in the mid-’90s and the Pokemon trading cards and video games a few years later.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2025
Ronald Tickle, deputy assistant secretary of defense for real property, said the FAA’s decision to allow helicopters to raise their altitude and adjust routes are important steps to address noise concerns.
From Washington Post • Apr. 25, 2023
“You gonna build another one?” asked Tom Tickle, one of the single miners who lived in the Club House.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
