tickle

[ tik-uhl ]

/ ˈtɪk əl /

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See synonyms for: tickle / tickled / tickling on Thesaurus.com

Definition of tickle

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.

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), 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.

OTHER WORDS FOR tickle

4 amuse, please, delight, enchant.

See synonyms for tickle on Thesaurus.com

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Idioms about tickle

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

Origin of tickle

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tikelen; further origin uncertain; perhaps frequentative of tiken “to touch lightly”; see origin at tick¹ (in obsolete sense “to touch lightly”)

OTHER WORDS FROM tickle

un·tick·led, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tickle in a sentence

Somewhere in the Afterlife, Laurence Sterne must have been tickled to see his fiendish book infused with new life.
Crazy Cartography: Artists and Writers Conjure a Slew of Imaginative Maps|Lauren Elkin|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The one thing that may have tickled them more was when Mitch McConnell showed up on stage brandishing a rifle.
CPAC: Come for the Crazy, Stay for the Party|Michelle Cottle|March 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was just tickled and amused by the situation, punky and very funny.
NCIS’s 11th Anniversary: Michael Weatherly’s Top 10 Moments|Michael Weatherly|September 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Steel balls caromed around the table as the player massaged, tickled, pressed, and slammed the flipper buttons.
Paris Cafes Lose Their Pinball Machines, as Numbers Dwindle|Solène Cressant|July 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

This potential use seems to have tickled the imaginations of many, many bitcoin fanciers.
Why Bitcoin is a Bubble|Megan McArdle|April 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It stood on a sandy road, and a cold wind tickled his knickerbockered legs.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
"I've told Judy to bemember," said Punch, wiggling, for his father's beard tickled his neck.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
I'd be tickled to have the hull town come out an' see me cuttin' figger eight's in the clouds.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run|Stanley R. Matthews
But I could make it a sight better 'n it is an' it might grow plenty of them posies Dorothy's so tickled with.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond
This tribute to their feelings so tickled the women that they set down their tea-cups and laughed prodigiously.
The Garret and the Garden|R.M. Ballantyne

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 forms of tickle

tickly, 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

Definition of tickle

OTHER WORDS FOR tickle

Idioms about tickle

Origin of tickle

OTHER WORDS FROM tickle

Words related to tickle

How to use tickle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tickle

Derived forms of tickle

Word Origin for tickle