salt lick

American  

noun

1. a place to which animals go to lick naturally occurring salt deposits.

2. a block of salt or salt preparation provided, as in a pasture, for cattle, horses, etc.

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salt lick British  

noun

1. a place where wild animals go to lick naturally occurring salt deposits

2. a block of salt or a salt preparation given to domestic or farm animals to lick

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Etymology

Origin of salt lick

An Americanism dating back to 1735–45

Example Sentences

In 2021, Seattle artist Aurora San Miguel made a salt lick shaped like one of the Elemental Stones seen in the 1997 science fiction film “The Fifth Element.”

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2023

When I was a kid, my family put out a salt lick to attract deer.

From Washington Post • Feb. 17, 2023

You'll end up with a real salt lick.

From Salon • Jan. 21, 2023

Mountain goats, searching for salt, lick the rocks and dig in the dirt where humans have peed.

From Washington Times • Aug. 30, 2020

Now and then they passed thickets of canebrake, and once, at the side of a stream, they came to a salt "lick."

From The Young Trailers A Story of Early Kentucky by Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)