YourDictionary

stick to

Variant of stick

noun

  1. a long, usually slender piece of wood; specif.,
    1. a twig or small branch broken off or cut off, esp. a dead and dry one
    2. a tree branch of any size, used for fuel, etc.
    3. a long, slender, and usually tapering piece of wood shaped for a specific purpose, as a wand, staff, club, baton, cane, rod, etc.
  2. a stalk, as of celery
  3. something shaped like a stick; sticklike piece: a stick of chewing gum
  4. a separate item; article: every stick of furniture
  5. an implement used for striking a ball, puck, etc.: a hockey stick
  6. something made of sticks, as a racing hurdle
  7. a sticking, as with a pointed weapon; stab
  8. anything, as a threat, used in compelling another
  9. stick shift
  10. a number of bombs, parachutists, etc. dropped from the air in such a way as to fall in a line across a target area
  11. Archaic a stoppage, delay, or obstacle
  12. Informal a dull, stupid, or spiritless person
  13. Slang a marijuana cigarette
  14. Aeron. joystick (sense )
  15. Naut. a mast or a part of a mast
  16. Printing a composing stick or its contents

transitive verb stuck, sticked, sticking

  1. to pierce or puncture, as with a pointed instrument
  2. to kill by piercing; stab
  3. to pierce something with (a knife, pin, etc.)
  4. to thrust or push (in, into, out, etc.): to stick one's finger into a hole
  5. to set with piercing objects: a cushion stuck with pins
    1. to fasten or attach as by gluing, pinning, etc.: to stick a poster on a wall
    2. to decorate with things fastened in this way
    1. to transfix or impale
    2. to impale (insect specimens, etc.), as on a pin, and mount for exhibit
  6. to obstruct, entangle, bog down, etc.; also, to detain, delay, etc.: usually used in the passive: the wheels were stuck; we were stuck in town
    1. to prop (a vine, etc.) with a stick or sticks
    2. Printing to set type in a composing stick
  7. Informal to place; put; set
  8. Informal to make sticky by smearing
  9. Informal to puzzle; baffle: to be stuck by a question
  10. Slang
    1. to make pay, often exorbitantly
    2. to impose a disagreeable task, burden, expense, etc. upon
    3. to cheat or defraud
  11. Chiefly Brit., Informal to endure or tolerate

intransitive verb

  1. to be or remain fixed or embedded by a pointed end, as a nail, etc.
  2. to be or remain attached by adhesion; adhere; cleave
    1. to remain in the same place; stay; abide: they stick at home
    2. to remain fixed in the memory
    3. to remain in effect: to make the charges stick
  3. to remain in close association; be fixed; cling: friends stick together; the nickname stuck
  4. to keep close: to stick to a trail
  5. to persevere; persist: to stick at a job
  6. to remain firm and resolute; endure: they stuck through thick and thin
  7. to become fixed, blocked, lodged, etc. as by an obstacle; specif.,
    1. to become embedded and immovable: a shoe stuck in the mud
    2. to become unworkable; jam: the gears stuck
    3. to become stopped or delayed; come to a standstill: a bill stuck in committee
  8. to be puzzled
  9. to be reluctant; hesitate; scruple: a person who will stick at nothing
  10. to protrude, project, or extend (out, up, through, etc.)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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