tick

[ tik ]

/ tɪk /

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See synonyms for: tick / ticking on Thesaurus.com

noun

a slight, sharp, recurring click, tap, or beat, as of a clock.

Chiefly British Informal. a moment or instant.

a small dot, mark, check, or electronic signal, as used to mark off an item on a list, serve as a reminder, or call attention to something.

Stock Exchange.

a movement in the price of a stock, bond, or option.
the smallest possible tick on a given exchange.

Manège. a jumping fault consisting of a light touch of a fence with one or more feet.

a small contrasting spot of color on the coat of a mammal or the feathers of a bird.

verb (used without object)

to emit or produce a tick, like that of a clock.

to pass as with ticks of a clock: The hours ticked by.

verb (used with object)

to sound or announce by a tick or ticks: The clock ticked the minutes.

to mark with a tick or ticks; check (usually followed by off); to tick off the items on the memo.

Verb Phrases

tick off, Slang.

to make angry: His mistreatment of the animals really ticked me off.
Chiefly British. to scold severely: The manager will tick you off if you make another mistake.

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Idioms about tick

what makes one tick, the motive or explanation of one's behavior: The biographer failed to show what made Herbert Hoover tick.

Origin of tick

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English tek “little touch”; akin to Dutch tik “a touch, pat,” Norwegian tikka “to touch or shove slightly”; see tickle

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH tick

tic, tick

Words nearby tick

tical, ticarcillin disodium, tic douloureux, tichy, Ticino, tick, tick bird, tick-borne, tick-borne encephalitis virus, tick-borne typhus, tick box

Other definitions for tick (2 of 4)

tick²

[ tik ]

/ tɪk /

noun

any of numerous bloodsucking arachnids of the order Acarina, including the families Ixodidae and Argasidae, somewhat larger than the related mites and having a barbed proboscis for attachment to the skin of warm-blooded vertebrates: some ticks, as the deer tick, are vectors of disease.

sheeptick.

Origin of tick

First recorded before 900; Middle English teke, tyke, Old English ticia, perhaps spelling error for tiica (i.e. tīca ) or ticca; akin to Low German tieke, German Zecke

Other definitions for tick (3 of 4)

tick³

[ tik ]

/ tɪk /

noun

the cloth case of a mattress, pillow, etc., containing hair, feathers, or the like.

ticking.

Also called bed·tick

[bed-tik] /ˈbɛdˌtɪk/ .

Origin of tick

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tikke, teke, tyke (cognate with Dutch tijk, German Zieche ), ultimately derived from Latin tēca, thēca, from Greek thḗkē “case”

Other definitions for tick (4 of 4)

tick⁴

[ tik ]

/ tɪk /

Chiefly British Informal.

noun

a score or account.

Origin of tick

⁴

First recorded in 1635–45; short for ticket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use tick in a sentence

Most infected ticks that had Dae2, however, survived as long as uninfected ticks.
How some ticks protect themselves from deadly bacteria on human skin|Erin Garcia de Jesus|December 10, 2020|Science News
The ticks can carry the pathogen that causes deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Dog ticks may get more of a taste for human blood as the climate changes|Aayushi Pratap|November 30, 2020|Science News
It is unclear why the adult tropical ticks switched their preference at high temperature.
Dog ticks may get more of a taste for human blood as the climate changes|Aayushi Pratap|November 30, 2020|Science News
More than twice as many of the ticks moved toward the human at the hotter temperature compared with at room temperature.
Dog ticks may get more of a taste for human blood as the climate changes|Aayushi Pratap|November 30, 2020|Science News

Doctors sent their blood samples to the Centers for Disease Control, which discovered that both farmers had contracted a previously unknown virus from a tick bite.
An interview with a virus-hunter|Katie McLean|October 21, 2020|MIT Technology Review
She actually had never been to a Deer Tick show before, but she liked it a lot.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So we picked out the song (“Rhiannon,” click here for video), and Deer Tick learned it.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Senate races in both states are tight as a tick, with no candidate hitting 50 percent in any of the polls.
How This Election Could Go to January|Michael Tomasky|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the illness is transmitted by the bite of an infected tick.
Predator Doctors Take Advantage of Patients With ‘Chronic Lyme’ Scam|Russell Saunders|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Once content to find a X-Men Calendar or a signed drawing of The Tick, fans now expect—and get—a whole lot more.
Too Many Spider-Men, Too Little Time: Get Ready for Comic-Con|Annaliza Savage|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“The sepoys have come in from Meerut,” he announced with the slow tick of the earliest form of apparatus.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
“Seems more cheerful like,” observed the caretaker, as the steady tick-tack began to sound through the quiet room.
The Daughters of Danaus|Mona Caird
Some animals, like the rhino and the eland, have tick birds that sit upon their backs and eat the ticks.
In Africa|John T. McCutcheon
Often, for a variety in the lessons, she had to go to the baker without money; then her master simply gave the order, ‘on tick!’
The Animal Story Book|Various
Davie used to say 'tick-tock' when he heard it, when he first learned to talk.
Patchwork|Anna Balmer Myers

British Dictionary definitions for tick (1 of 4)

tick¹

/ (tɪk) /

noun

a recurrent metallic tapping or clicking sound, such as that made by a clock or watch

British informal a moment or instant

a mark (✓) or dash used to check off or indicate the correctness of something

commerce the smallest increment of a price fluctuation in a commodity exchange. Tick size is usually 0.01% of the nominal value of the trading unit

verb

to produce a recurrent tapping sound or indicate by such a soundthe clock ticked the minutes away

(when tr, often foll by off) to mark or check (something, such as a list) with a tick

what makes someone tick informal the basic drive or motivation of a person

Word Origin for tick

C13: from Low German tikk touch; related to Old High German zekōn to pluck, Norwegian tikke to touch

British Dictionary definitions for tick (2 of 4)

tick²

/ (tɪk) /

noun

any of various small parasitic arachnids of the families Ixodidae (hard ticks) and Argasidae (soft ticks), typically living on the skin of warm-blooded animals and feeding on the blood and tissues of their hosts: order Acarina (mites and ticks)See also sheep tick (def. 1) Related adjective: acaroid

any of certain other arachnids of the order Acarina

any of certain insects of the dipterous family Hippoboscidae that are ectoparasitic on horses, cattle, sheep, etc, esp the sheep ked

Word Origin for tick

Old English ticca; related to Middle High German zeche tick, Middle Irish dega stag beetle

British Dictionary definitions for tick (3 of 4)

tick³

/ (tɪk) /

noun

British informal account or credit (esp in the phrase on tick)

Word Origin for tick

C17: shortened from ticket

British Dictionary definitions for tick (4 of 4)

tick⁴

/ (tɪk) /

noun

the strong covering of a pillow, mattress, etc

informal short for ticking

Word Origin for tick

C15: probably from Middle Dutch tīke; related to Old High German ziecha pillow cover, Latin tēca case, Greek thēkē

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

Medical definitions for tick

tick

[ tĭk ]

Any of numerous small bloodsucking parasitic arachnids of the families Ixodidae and Argasidae, many of which transmit febrile diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.

Any of various usually wingless, louselike insects of the family Hippobosciddae that are parasitic on sheep, goats, and other animals.

Scientific definitions for tick

tick

[ tĭk ]

Any of numerous small, parasitic arachnids of the suborder Ixodida that feed on the blood of animals. Like their close relatives the mites and unlike spiders, ticks have no division between cephalothorax and abdomen. Ticks differ from mites by being generally larger and having a sensory pit at the end of their first pair of legs. Many ticks transmit febrile diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.

Other Idioms and Phrases with tick

tick

In addition to the idiom beginning with tick

tickled pink
tickle one's fancy
tickle the ivories
tick off

also see:

clock is ticking
tight as a tick
what makes one tick

tick

Idioms about tick

Origin of tick

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH tick

Words nearby tick

Other definitions for tick (2 of 4)

Origin of tick

Other definitions for tick (3 of 4)

Origin of tick

Other definitions for tick (4 of 4)

Origin of tick

Words related to tick

How to use tick in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tick (1 of 4)

Word Origin for tick

British Dictionary definitions for tick (2 of 4)

Word Origin for tick

British Dictionary definitions for tick (3 of 4)

Word Origin for tick

British Dictionary definitions for tick (4 of 4)

Word Origin for tick

Medical definitions for tick

Scientific definitions for tick

Other Idioms and Phrases with tick