to attack (used especially in commanding a dog).
Sic 'em!
to incite to attack (usually followed byon ).
Sicilian.
Sicily.
to turn on or attack: used only in commands, as to a dog
to urge (a dog) to attack
First recorded in 1835–45; variant of seek
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English (north and Scots); see such
First recorded in 1885–90; from Latin sīc
When urging your dog to chase a thief, you might say, "Sic 'em, Fluffy!" When writing something that might look wrong, you add "[sic]" to indicate you know it's wrong. When you’re writing a paper and you want to quote a source, but the source contains a misspelling or some other error, you use the word [sic] after the quote so that whoever reads your paper knows the mistake is in the original source, rather than in your own sloppy typing. It’s kind of a way of saying, “Yeah, I know this is wrong, but let’s just be clear — I didn't do it!”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They set little traps for Hunham’s arrogance and sic their daddies on the administrators, who then bear down on him.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2023
It won’t matter that Snyder tried to sic a private investigator on the commissioner.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
Whatever the substance of his personal feud with Mitchell may be, it comes shortly after his attempt to sic his followers on a journalist after being duped by a fake Twitter account.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2021
If it didn’t get its $51,000, the company warned, it would sic debt collectors on the family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2019
“Whatever I say, one or the other of you is going to sic the dog on me. You’ve got me in the middle.”
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
"Whenever people talk about Cristiano Ronaldo, it almost feels like Portugal are playing in Cristiano Ronaldo's country," said Luis Aguilar, a pundit for SIC Noticias.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
"They had a very distant attitude," a spokesman for Portugal's GNR police force, Carlos Canatario, told Portuguese television station SIC, adding the pair appeared "detached".
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
The women were Portuguese staff members at the center, Ismaili community leader Narzim Ahmad told Portuguese TV channel SIC.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
Murça's mayor, Mário Artur Lopes, told SIC broadcaster the bodies were discovered around 4.30 p.m. after the couple were involved in a car accident as they tried to get away from the wildfire.
From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2022
SIC, SICK, SIK, adj. such; in the same manner.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV. by Leighton, Alexander
He says, the issuing the commission, Sic. by Mr. Genet within our territory, was an infringement of our sovereignty; therefore, the proceeds of it should be given up to Great Britain.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 3 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson
Sic. vol. ii., among the Leggende e Storie, especially La Comare, Minni-spartuti, Principessa di Carini, L'Innamorata del Diavolo, and some of the bandit songs.
From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by Symonds, John Addington
Sic. xi. 20-38; see also Sicily: History, and Syracuse; for his coins see Numismatics: Sicily.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various
Of the various places of his birth, see Diodorus Sic. l.
From A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume II. (of VI.) by Bryant, Jacob
Less rote, but also well within genre expectations, is the title story, narrated by the youngest member of a family that makes cursed objects and sics one of them on a greedy villain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
But if I keep on tacklin' all the odd jobs she sics me on to, I'll be able to qualify pretty soon as a boss carpenter, a master plumber, and an expert electrician.
From The House of Torchy by Brown, Arthur William
This put him in conflict with Shaw, who had once overseen the hospital, and who sicced health inspectors on Clinton’s cafeterias.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2023
She sued producers for what she alleged were broken promises and sicced her lawyers on advertisers and publications she claimed had used her image without permission.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 16, 2023
Though we see Joanna Strange, the company’s first whistleblower, her appearance is brief — and the documentary doesn’t mention that WeWork sued her, and even sicced the FBI on her.
From The Verge ● Apr. 2, 2021
Apple later sicced law enforcement on a tech blog that got ahold of an upcoming iPhone, in a case that went beyond mere bullying.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2015
“I wanted to be Lissa’s friend, but she was afraid of me. She sicced the dog on me. Why was she scared? What’s wrong with me, Georgie?”
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
At least 14 sea lions were reported sicked off the coast of Malibu due to toxins created by harmful algal blooms, according to the California Wildlife Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2025
Lifespan President and CEO Timothy Babineau said officials determined the restrictions are the “most prudent thing to do” in light of the new coronavirus that’s sicked tens of thousands globally.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 9, 2020
The story had sicked the War Manpower Commission into investigating.
From Time Magazine Archive
McCarthy's junketeering gumshoes, sicked their boss onto him.
From Time Magazine Archive
I don’t doubt a minute but he let thet bull out and sicked him on me.”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Perhaps Cook can buy Ternus time by siccing Apple’s lawyers on a top AI rival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Now researchers are siccing the technology on viruses.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
No longer would each try to gain an edge by siccing governments and agencies on the other.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 2021
The magazine’s official account tweeted an actually-quite-flattering caricature of Cliffe, with the message that she’d been put on something called #TheNewPuritansList for being “our favorite Mean Mommie” and siccing “mobs” on people.
From Slate ● Dec. 14, 2018
All the same, he disliked going to cops like Bill Koontz for help or advice because that usually meant he wound up siccing them on his own people.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
That might not stop the labels from sicking their lawyers on the site now that its popularity is growing.
From Forbes ● Jun. 21, 2011
Here are the expanding tire companies sicking the faithful Hoover on the British lion just when they are about to inflate prices.
From Time Magazine Archive
It has so much verve and good spirit that I feel like patting him on the back, and "sicking him on," but Lord! what a fool!
From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by James, William
Half an hour later, lonely Laura, discovering the girls on their doorstep, amused herself by sicking the dog at them.
From Dandelion Cottage by Rankin, Carroll Watson
He—he was all for detaining me right away, Renie; sending for pa, and—and sicking the law right on his—his own sister's son.
From Every Soul Hath Its Song by Hurst, Fannie
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.
