tickle
Americanverb (used with object)
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tickles,
present (3rd person singular)
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tickled,
past participle, past
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tickling
present participle
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to touch or stroke lightly with the fingers, a feather, etc., so as to excite a tingling or itching sensation in; titillate.
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to poke some sensitive part of the body so as to excite spasmodic laughter.
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to excite agreeably; gratify.
to tickle someone's vanity.
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to excite amusement in.
The clown's antics really tickled the kids.
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to get, move, etc., by or as by tickling.
She tickled him into saying yes.
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to stroke the underbelly of (a fish, especially a trout) until it goes into a trancelike state, making it possible to scoop it out of the water: the ability to tickle a fish, often contested as more mythical than actual, has been written of and embellished on since ancient times.
He tickled that fish until it stopped moving, and the next thing I knew, we were having trout for dinner!
verb (used without object)
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tickles,
present (3rd person singular)
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tickled,
past participle, past
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tickling
present participle
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to be affected with a tingling or itching sensation, as from light touches or strokes.
I tickle all over.
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to produce such a sensation.
noun
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tickles
plural
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an act or instance of tickling.
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a tickling sensation.
idioms
verb
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to touch, stroke, or poke (a person, part of the body, etc) so as to produce pleasure, laughter, or a twitching sensation
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(tr) to excite pleasurably; gratify
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(tr) to delight or entertain (often in the phrase tickle one's fancy )
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(intr) to itch or tingle
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(tr) to catch (a fish, esp a trout) by grasping it with the hands and gently moving the fingers into its gills
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informal to please greatly
he was tickled pink to be elected president
noun
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a sensation of light stroking or itching
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the act of tickling
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(in the Atlantic Provinces) a narrow strait
Usage
What is a basic definition of tickle? Tickle means to touch sensitive body parts in order to cause laughter, to stroke lightly to cause an itching sensation, or to excite. Tickle has several other senses as a verb and a noun. You might tickle your baby brother as part of playing to get him to laugh. Tickling involves touching sensitive body parts, such as the stomach or armpits, to cause involuntary laughter. It is usually done with the fingers, fingernails, or a feather. If someone is especially easy to make laugh by tickling, they are said to be ticklish.
- Real-life examples: Parents often tickle babies or their children to make them laugh or cheer them up. Kids might tickle each other while playing. A person should always have permission before they tickle you.
- Used in a sentence: When my daughter is sad, I can usually cheer her up by tickling her.
- Real-life examples: An uncomfortable sweater may tickle your neck. A pleasant smell can tickle your nose. A bug bite on your leg may cause your leg tickle.
- Used in a sentence: The wind tickled the hairs on the back of my neck.
- Used in a sentence: I felt a slight tickle on my knee after going through the poison ivy bush.
- Used in a sentence: The gorgeous dress tickled her sense of style.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ticklesimple
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ticklessimple
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have tickledperfect
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has tickledperfect
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am ticklingprogressive
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are ticklingprogressive
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is ticklingprogressive
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have been ticklingperfect progressive
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has been ticklingperfect progressive
Past
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tickledsimple
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had tickledperfect
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was ticklingprogressive
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were ticklingprogressive
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had been ticklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tickle
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tikelen; further origin uncertain; perhaps frequentative of tiken “to touch lightly”; see origin at tick 1 (in obsolete sense “to touch lightly”)
Explanation
When you tickle someone, you touch them in a way that makes them laugh and squirm. It's impossible to tickle yourself—you can only tickle others. You might tickle a baby to make him squeal and giggle, and the sensation he feels is also called a tickle. An itching sensation is also sometimes referred to as a tickle, like a tickle in your throat when you're getting sick. Colloquially, you can tickle someone (or tickle them pink) by delighting them: "It tickles me when you surprise me with cupcakes!" Some experts suspect that this word comes from the Scots kittle, "to tickle."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But they’re smart—Debbie doesn’t care for this month’s book-club selection, “The Woman in the Window Across the Street,” which will tickle the psycho-thriller audience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Then she shares a delightful, fact-based piece of trivia like, “Hey, did you know that rats giggle when you tickle them?”
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026
A whiff of lemongrass and wet soil tickle the nose in Palli Fleischer Lyberth's vertical farm in Sisimiut, the second-largest town in the Danish autonomous territory.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
In December 2023, she noticed symptoms – a chest tickle and discomfort while eating.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
Something began to tickle at the back of his mind.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Instead, he wants them to think, “Dad’s involved, Dad’s helping out, Dad’s giving me tickles before bed.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
He added: "Frankly, it tickles most of my family and friends that I'm being portrayed as some huge lefty, because that's not who I am. I'm progressive, and I'm deeply pragmatic in my politics."
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
“He talks very slowly, but he’s brilliant. I think the straighter and more serious they are, the more it tickles me,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025
Your partner tickles your foot — you might reflexively withdraw the foot without waking up and becoming conscious, right?
From Salon ● Apr. 21, 2024
It smells funny in a way that tickles my nose, but not in a bad way.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
Still, judging by trends on social media, it seems a lot of people are tickled by the idea that such an outcome is even remotely possible.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
Instead of having its belly tickled and rolling over, Aronimink bit back on day one of the season's second major.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
But I also adored that Frémaux was so clearly tickled to valorize an audience-thrilling blockbuster, because Cannes can do that, too.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
At last year’s staging of “A Streetcar Named Desire” with Paul Mescal, theatergoers were positively tickled as Blanche DuBois spiraled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Working the handle back through my hands until the net was close to me, I poked a finger through the mesh and tickled one in the ribs.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
After five hours of a painless electric tickling sensation, he had a fresh arm, and he was sent back out into battle.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
A spontaneous laugh triggered by tickling differs from a polite laugh during a meeting, a nervous laugh after making a mistake, or contagious laughter shared among friends.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026
“In my dream, you kept getting closer to me, and then you started tickling me,” Linda tells him during a session, early in the film.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025
The left-hander spent six balls on 99 before tickling Jasprit Bumrah very fine for four.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2025
You walk toward the gate, the too-high grass tickling your calves.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
