tic

[tik]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tic ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Pathology.

a sudden, spasmodic, painless, involuntary muscular contraction, as of the face.
tic douloureux.

a persistent or recurrent behavioral trait; personal quirk: her distinctive verbal tics.

RELATED WORDS

twitch, jerk, fit, contraction

Nearby words

Origin of tic

1790–1800; < French (of expressive orig.)

Can be confusedtic tick

-tic

a suffix, equivalent in meaning to -ic, occurring in adjectives of Greek origin (analytic), used especially in the formation of adjectives from nouns with stems in -sis: hematotic; neurotic.

Origin of -tic

< Greek -tikos, extracted from adjectives derived with -ikos -ic from agent nouns ending in -tēs; cf. hieratic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tic

He was asked if he worried that a tic might someday cause him to drop a ball.
Why Tourette’s May Be Tim Howard’s Secret Weapon on the Field|Michael Daly|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 2013, Der Spiegel pressed him on his condition: Der Spiegel: Has a ball ever slipped out of your hands because of a tic?
Team USA Lost, but Tim Howard Is a Winner|Emily Shire|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Elsewhere on this website, Andrew Sullivan has brilliantly designated these convolutions as a “tic of his generation.”
Stephen Schiff: My (Relatively Small) Crime Against Gore Vidal|Stephen Schiff|August 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I nervously said something about her shirt being off, and she laughed, and we switched the game to Tic Tac Toe.
My $16 Videogame Striptease|Brian Ries|October 14, 2010|DAILY BEAST

I suppose it is characteristic of people who tic to be fickle and vacillating.
Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne
The localisation of the motor reaction in cases of tic is essentially physiological.
Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne
With the candidate for tic things pass in quite a different fashion.
Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne
In these cases the condition is undoubtedly one of painful facial spasm, inaccurately and unfortunately styled "tic douloureux."
Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne
In contradistinction to a pure reflex, a tic is a complex or associated act.
Tics and Their Treatment|Henry Meigne

British Dictionary definitions for tic

tic

noun pathol

spasmodic twitching of a particular group of muscles

See tic douloureux

Word Origin for tic

C19: from French, of uncertain origin; compare Italian ticche

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tic

tic

twitching of a facial muscle, 1822, often a shortening of tic douloureux "severe facial neuralgia," literally "painful twitch" (1800), from French tic "a twitching disease of horses" (early 17c.), of unknown origin. Klein suggests an imitative origin; French etymologists compare it to Italian ticchio "whim, caprice."

Medicine definitions for tic

tic

[tĭk]

n.

A habitual spasmodic muscular movement or contraction, usually of the face or extremities.habit spasm