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.
The sic of it all is worth a little attention.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2025
Max doesn't sic goblins on his little sister but he does drag her along on his quest to impress Allison and banish the risen Sanderson sisters.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2022
I’ll sic Houston on opponents until opponents seem to say, Just get me out of here and let me go home.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2022
Otherwise, “the company may report you as delinquent,” which means it could sic debt collectors on him and trash his credit score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2021
After leaping from the balcony Booth will stand tall and, in his best actor’s voice, pronounce the Latin phrase sic semper tyrannis—thus always to tyrants.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
"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 SIC did not respond to a request for comment.
From Reuters ● Feb. 21, 2022
“Despite being vaccinated, we know that the vaccine is not 100% effective,” she told SIC Noticias news channel.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2021
This Doctor Doboobie had a servant, a poor snake, whom he employed in trimming his furnace, regulating it by just measure—compounding his drugs—tracing his circles—cajoling his patients, ET SIC DE CAETERIS.
From Kenilworth by Scott, Walter, Sir
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
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
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
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. xiv. 19-31, 37, after Ephorus and Theopompus probably.
From Hellenica by Dakyns, Henry Graham
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
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
She even sicced her fan base on them, which caused Big Machine to shut down its Nashville offices hours early last Friday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2019
Later, Weinstein sicced his lawyers on news organizations, trying to prevent publication of negative stories.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 7, 2017
As for me: Before I sicced the Scooba on my apartment, I had previously mopped exactly zero times.
From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2014
“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 pursuing posse took down the sad-faced dogs, again sicked them on the trail.
From Time Magazine Archive
Propaganda Minister Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels sicked the entire German press on the President, but nothing out of Germany last week compared in vitriol, scorn, ridicule and invective to what was being written in Italy.
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
I was already planning on attending a friend’s Seder, and at least this task did not involve Yohana siccing an expert on me or making me host an elaborate event.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
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
They was both sicking their intellects onto the job of figgering out how it was Lucy didn't know.
From Danny's Own Story by Marquis, Don
Those that are going back with me and those that are not are always sicking me at the subject.
From The Phantom Herd by Bower, B. M.
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.
