salt lick
Americannoun
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a place to which animals go to lick naturally occurring salt deposits.
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a block of salt or salt preparation provided, as in a pasture, for cattle, horses, etc.
noun
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a place where wild animals go to lick naturally occurring salt deposits
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a block of salt or a salt preparation given to domestic or farm animals to lick
Etymology
Origin of salt lick
An Americanism dating back to 1735–45
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.
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
Their three-bed cabin was reached by a rickety ladder and built into the branches of an ancient fig tree, overlooking a waterhole and salt lick.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2022
Mountain goats, searching for salt, lick the rocks and dig in the dirt where humans have peed.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 30, 2020
Steven Seagal—the human salt lick known for playing Steve Seagal in progressive early 90s Hollywood fare like Under Siege, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, and On Deadly Ground—is not a good person.
From Golf Digest ● Sep. 27, 2017
Settlers had followed the long-rangers; and numerous communities sprang up by salt lick and water course.
From Union and Democracy by Johnson, Allen
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.
