tickle

[ tik-uhl ]

/ ˈtɪk əl /

|||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tickle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), tick·led, tick·ling.

to touch or stroke lightly with the fingers, a feather, etc., so as to excite a tingling or itching sensation in; titillate.

to poke some sensitive part of the body so as to excite spasmodic laughter.

to excite agreeably; gratify: to tickle someone's vanity.

to excite amusement in: The clown's antics really tickled the kids.

to get, move, etc., by or as by tickling: She tickled him into saying yes.

verb (used without object), tick·led, tick·ling.

to be affected with a tingling or itching sensation, as from light touches or strokes: I tickle all over.

to produce such a sensation.

noun

an act or instance of tickling.

a tickling sensation.

Nearby words

tickets, tickety-boo, tickey, ticking, ticklace, tickle, tickle one's fancy, tickle the ivories, tickled pink, tickler, tickler coil

Idioms

tickled pink, Informal. greatly pleased: She was tickled pink that someone had remembered her birthday.

Origin of tickle

1300–50; Middle English tikelen, frequentative of tick¹ (in obsolete sense) to touch lightly

SYNONYMS FOR tickle

4 amuse, please, delight, enchant.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tickle ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·tick·led, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for tickle

Best Moment: When Galifianakis attempts to make Cera tickle his thigh (with disappointing results).
Justin Bieber, Jon Hamm & the Best of 'Between Two Ferns' (VIDEO)|Anna Klassen|September 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Guys, it distinctly says “tickle me” Elmo, not “hand-to-hand combat over me” Elmo.
Eight Biggest Elmo Scandals: Kevin Clash, Katy Perry & More (VIDEO)|Kevin Fallon|November 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And like a tickle in the throat before a cough or the awful urge to sneeze, it comes: the morbid desire to stare at the shame.
GOP Primaries Provide a Feast for Our Schadenfreude Appetite|Eric G. Wilson|January 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The interview ends in a dance party giggle-fit of “Tickle Me Elmo” proportions.
Elmo's True Hollywood Story|Marly Faherty|October 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Because we have all felt that little tug, tickle, or impulse to be antiseptically and impersonally naughty?
The Anthony Weiner Scandal: C’mon, America, Nobody’s Perfect|Lee Siegel|June 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Or you can tickle their toes with a straw until they laugh so heartily that they split their shells.
The Corner House Girls on Palm Island|Grace Brooks Hill
This course may tickle vain people, but it cannot meet with favor among those who love the truth, and the whole truth.
The Youthful Wanderer|George H. Heffner
In the midst of my troubles, up comes my friend Tickle and pops into the room.
Sheppard Lee, Vol. I (of 2)|Robert Montgomery Bird
Were they a whit less cautious, they must fail at once; but they tickle their converts before they think of convincing them.
Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 1 of 2)|Frances Milton Trollope
Put on your old khaki clothes, Art; that'll tickle the major so he won't mind what you tell him.
A Court of Inquiry|Grace S. Richmond

British Dictionary definitions for tickle

tickle

/ (ˈtɪkəl) /

verb

to touch, stroke, or poke (a person, part of the body, etc) so as to produce pleasure, laughter, or a twitching sensation

(tr) to excite pleasurably; gratify

(tr) to delight or entertain (often in the phrase tickle one's fancy)

(intr) to itch or tingle

(tr) to catch (a fish, esp a trout) by grasping it with the hands and gently moving the fingers into its gills

tickle pink or tickle to death informal to please greatlyhe was tickled pink to be elected president

noun

a sensation of light stroking or itching

the act of tickling

Canadian (in the Atlantic Provinces) a narrow strait

Derived Formstickly, adjective

Word Origin for tickle

C14: related to Old English tinclian, Old High German kizziton, Old Norse kitla, Latin titillāre to titillate

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

tickle

verb (used with object), tick·led, tick·ling.

verb (used without object), tick·led, tick·ling.

noun

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of tickle

Examples from the Web for tickle

British Dictionary definitions for tickle

tickle

verb

noun

Word Origin for tickle