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.
a small amount: I haven't done a lick of work all week.
Usually licks.a critical or complaining remark.
Usually licks.JazzSlang. a musical phrase, as by a soloist in improvising.
Verb Phrases
lick up, to lap up; devour greedily.
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 into shape, Informal. to bring to completion or perfection through discipline, hard work, etc.: They needed another rehearsal to lick the production into shape.
before 1000;Middle English;Old Englishliccian, cognate with Old Saxonliccōn,Old High Germanleckōn; akin to Go bilaigon,Latinlingere,Greekleíchein to lick (up)
(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 shapeto 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 lipsto anticipate or recall something with glee or relish
lick one's woundsto retire after a defeat or setback in order to husband one's resources
"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
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]
lick
n.
"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.
