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flick1

[flik]
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noun
  1. a sudden light blow or tap, as with a whip or the finger: She gave the horse a flick with her riding crop.
  2. the sound made by such a blow or tap.
  3. a light and rapid movement: a flick of the wrist.
  4. something thrown off with or as if with a jerk: a flick of mud.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to strike lightly with a whip, the finger, etc.
  2. to remove with such a stroke: to flick away a crumb.
  3. to move (something) with a sudden stroke or jerk.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to move with a jerk or jerks.
  2. to flutter.
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Origin of flick1

1400–50; late Middle English flykke; apparently imitative
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

snap, tap, flip, tip, flicker, hit, dab, pat

Examples from the Web for flicked

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He flicked the ashes from his cigar, nursing his knee with the other hand.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

  • Lorenzi drew a ring from his finger and flicked it across the table.

    Casanova's Homecoming

    Arthur Schnitzler

  • So I took my fishing-rod and flicked it at him, and there—I had caught the eel after all!

    W. A. G.'s Tale

    Margaret Turnbull

  • Roger flicked the ash from his cigarette and coughed slightly.

    Changing Winds

    St. John G. Ervine

  • Nevertheless he gave a vicious snap with his fingers as he flicked them in the air.

    The Night Riders

    Ridgwell Cullum

British Dictionary definitions for flicked

flick1

verb
  1. (tr) to touch with or as if with the finger or hand in a quick jerky movement
  2. (tr) to propel or remove by a quick jerky movement, usually of the fingers or handto flick a piece of paper at someone
  3. to move or cause to move quickly or jerkily
  4. (intr foll by through) to read or look at (a book, newspaper, etc) quickly or idly
  5. to snap or click (the fingers) to produce a sharp sound
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noun
  1. a tap or quick stroke with the fingers, a whip, etc
  2. the sound made by such a stroke
  3. a fleck, streak, or particle
  4. give someone the flick informal to dismiss someone from consideration
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Word Origin

C15: of imitative origin; compare French flicflac

flick2

noun slang
  1. a cinema film
  2. the flicks the cinemawhat's on at the flicks tonight?
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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

Word Origin and History for flicked

flick

v.

1816, from flick (n.); meaning "quick turn of the wrist" is from 1897, originally in cricket. Related: Flicked; flicking.

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flick

n.

mid-15c., probably imitative of a light blow with a whip. Earliest recorded use is in phrase not worth a flykke "useless." As slang for "film," it is first attested 1926, a back-formation from flicker (v.), from their flickering appearance.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper