lick

[ lik ]

/ lɪk /

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lick ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to pass the tongue over the surface of, as to moisten, taste, or eat (often followed by up, off, from, etc.): to lick a postage stamp; to lick an ice-cream cone.

to make, or cause to become, by stroking with the tongue: to lick a spoon clean.

(of waves, flames, etc.) to pass or play lightly over: The flame licked the dry timber.

Informal.

to hit or beat, especially as a punishment; thrash; whip.
to overcome or defeat, as in a fight, game, or contest.
to outdo or surpass.

verb (used without object)

to move quickly or lightly.

noun

a stroke of the tongue over something.

as much as can be taken up by one stroke of the tongue.

salt lick.

Informal.

a blow.
a brief, brisk burst of activity or energy.
a quick pace or clip; speed.
a small amount: I haven't done a lick of work all week.

Usually licks. a critical or complaining remark.

Usually licks. Jazz Slang. a musical phrase, as by a soloist in improvising.

Verb Phrases

lick up, to lap up; devour greedily.

Nearby words

licht, lichtenstein, lichtenstein, roy, licit, licitly, lick, lick and a promise, a, lick into shape, lick observatory, lick one's chops, lick one's wounds

Idioms

last licks, a final turn or opportunity: We got in our last licks on the tennis court before the vacation ended.

lick and a promise, a hasty and perfunctory performance in doing something: I didn't have time to clean thoroughly, so I gave the room a lick and a promise.

lick ass, Slang: Vulgar. kiss(def 18).

lick into shape, Informal. to bring to completion or perfection through discipline, hard work, etc.: They needed another rehearsal to lick the production into shape.

lick one's chops. chop³(def 7).

lick one's wounds. wound¹(def 6).

lick the dust. dust(def 24).

Origin of lick

before 1000; Middle English; Old English liccian, cognate with Old Saxon liccōn, Old High German leckōn; akin to Go bilaigon, Latin lingere, Greek leíchein to lick (up)

SYNONYMS FOR lick

9a thwack, thump, rap, slap, cuff, buffet.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lick ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formslick·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lick

I remember practicing that lick [from the solo “Round Midnight” recording] years ago, learning how to do that cascade effect.
Herbie Hancock Holds Forth|David Yaffe|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another intriguing fact about the original is that Sam Levene, who played Nathan, couldn't sing a lick and said so.
New York’s Greatest Show Or How They Did Not Screw Up ‘Guys and Dolls’|Ross Wetzsteon|April 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I can still see the lick Marshall put on Ferguson,” said Ditka.
The Hit Heard Around the World|Rich Cohen|November 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Both peoples need time to lick their wounds, get to know each other as something other than Evil, and build (yes) confidence.
Why I'm Still a Two Stater|Emily L. Hauser|June 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST

I relaxed, feeling that the trustees might want to retire from the battlefield to lick their wounds and reconsider their policy.
James Joyce’s Grandson Stephen and Literature’s Most Tyrannical Estate|Gordon Bowker|June 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A rat will push down his tail into the tall-shaped bottle of preserves, and lick it after he has pulled it out.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 701|Various
I believe we'll lick these fellows or come mighty close to it.
The Guarded Heights|Wadsworth Camp
That sort of I-told-you-so look that makes you wish you were big enough to lick him.
The Rushton Boys at Rally Hall|Spencer Davenport
When I used to lick you at school, who ever would have thought that I was thrashing a sucking statesman?
The History of Samuel Titmarsh|William Makepeace Thackeray
I hain't got a critter that won't come up by its name an' lick my hand.
Glimpses of Three Coasts|Helen Hunt Jackson

British Dictionary definitions for lick

lick

/ (lɪk) /

verb

(tr) to pass the tongue over, esp in order to taste or consume

to flicker or move lightly over or round (something)the flames licked around the door

(tr) informal

to defeat or vanquish
to flog or thrash
to be or do much better than

lick into shape to put into a satisfactory condition: from the former belief that bear cubs were born formless and had to be licked into shape by their mother

lick one's lips to anticipate or recall something with glee or relish

lick one's wounds to retire after a defeat or setback in order to husband one's resources

lick the boots of See boot 1 (def. 14)

noun

an instance of passing the tongue over something

a small amounta lick of paint

Also called: salt lick a block of compressed salt or chemical matter provided for domestic animals to lick for medicinal and nutritional purposes

a place to which animals go to lick exposed natural deposits of salt

informal a hit; blow

slang a short musical phrase, usually on one instrument

informal speed; rate of movementhe was going at quite a lick when he hit it

a lick and a promise something hastily done, esp a hurried wash

Derived Formslicker, noun

Word Origin for lick

Old English liccian; related to Old High German leckon, Latin lingere, Greek leikhein

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 lick (1 of 3)

lick

v.1

Old English liccian "to pass the tongue over the surface, lap, lick up," from Proto-Germanic *likkon (cf. Old Saxon likkon, Dutch likken, Old High German lecchon, German lecken, Gothic bi-laigon), from PIE imitative base *leigh- (cf. Sanskrit ledhi "he licks," Armenian lizum "I lick," Greek leikhein "to lick," Latin lingere "to lick," Old Irish ligim "I lick," Welsh llwy "spoon"). French lécher is a Germanic loan word.

To lick (someone or something) into shape (1610s) is in reference to the supposed ways of bears:

Beres ben brought forthe al fowle and transformyd and after that by lyckyng of the fader and the moder they ben brought in to theyr kyndely shap. ["The Pylgremage of the Sowle," 1413]

Word Origin and History for lick (1 of 3)

lick

"an act of licking," c.1600, from lick (v.1). Meaning "small portion" is 1814, originally Scottish; hence U.S. colloquial sense. Sense of "place where an animal goes to lick salt" is from 1747. The jazz music sense of "short figure or solo" is by 1922.

Word Origin and History for lick (2 of 3)

lick

v.2

"to beat," 1535, perhaps from figurative use of lick (v.1) in the Coverdale bible that year in sense of "defeat, annihilate" (an enemy's forces) in Num. xxii:4:

Now shal this heape licke up all that is about vs, euen as an oxe licketh vp the grasse in the field.

But to lick (of) the whip "taste punishment" is attested from mid-15c.

lick

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Verb Phrases

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of lick

Examples from the Web for lick

British Dictionary definitions for lick

lick

verb

noun

Word Origin for lick

Word Origin and History for lick (1 of 3)

lick

Word Origin and History for lick (1 of 3)

lick

Word Origin and History for lick (2 of 3)

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