Stick Definition

stĭk
sticked, sticking, sticks, stuck
noun
sticks
A long, usually slender piece of wood.
Webster's New World
A stalk, as of celery.
Webster's New World
An implement used for striking a ball, puck, etc.
A hockey stick.
Webster's New World
Something that comes in narrow or oblong pieces.
A stick of chewing gum, of butter, of dynamite, etc.
Webster's New World
A separate item; article.
Every stick of furniture.
Webster's New World
verb
sticking, sticks, stuck
To execute (a landing or dismount) in gymnastics so that the feet do not move after they hit the ground.
American Heritage
To be or remain attached by adhesion; adhere; cleave.
Webster's New World
To detain or delay.
We were stuck at the airport overnight.
American Heritage
To keep close.
To stick to a trail.
Webster's New World
To pierce something with (a knife, pin, etc.)
Webster's New World
adjective

(informal) Likely to stick; sticking, sticky.

A non-stick pan. A stick plaster.
A sticker type of glue. The stickest kind of gum.
Wiktionary
pronoun

(music) The Chapman Stick, an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman.

Wiktionary
idiom
be stuck on
  • To be very fond of.
American Heritage
stick it to
  • To treat severely or wrongfully.
American Heritage
stick (one's) neck out
  • To make oneself vulnerable; take a risk.
American Heritage
stick to
  • To hold fast to an opinion or a set course of action.
American Heritage
stick to (one's) knitting
  • To mind one's own business.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Stick

Noun

Singular:
stick
Plural:
sticks

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Stick

Origin of Stick

  • From Middle English stiken (“to stick, pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened"), from Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened"), from Proto-Germanic *stikōnÄ… (“to pierce, prick, be sharp") (cf. also the related *stikanÄ…, whence West Frisian stekke, Low German steken, Dutch steken, German stechen; compare also Danish stikke, Swedish sticka), from Proto-Indo-European *steig- or *stig- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp").

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod, twig"), from Old English sticca (“rod, twig"), from Proto-Germanic *stikkô, from Proto-Indo-European *steig- or *stig- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp").

    From Wiktionary

  • Cognate to first etymology (same PIE root, different paths through Germanic and Old English), to stitch, and to etiquette, via French étiquette - see there for further discussion.

    From Wiktionary

  • Possibly a metaphorical use of the first etymology ("twig, branch"), possibly derived from the Yiddish schtick.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English stikke from Old English sticca steig- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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