Tick definition

tĭk
ticked ticking ticks
See word origin
Frequency:
(informal) To function characteristically or well; operate; work.

What makes him tick?

verb
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Any of various usually wingless insects that resemble a tick, such as a sheep ked.
noun
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A cloth case or covering that is filled with cotton, feathers, hair, etc. to form a mattress or pillow.
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To tick means to create a consistent noise or beat.

An example of to tick is for a clock to make a noise every second.

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(chiefly british) A moment.
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A light mark used to check off or call attention to an item.
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(informal) A unit on a scale; a degree.

When interest rates move up a tick.

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To emit recurring clicking sounds.

As the clock ticked.

verb
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To function characteristically or well.

Machines ticking away; curious about what makes people tick.

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To count or record with the sound of ticks.

A clock ticking the hours; a taxi meter ticking the fare.

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To mark or check off (a listed item) with a tick.

Ticked off each name on the list.

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Any of various small bloodsucking arachnids of the order Ixodida that are parasitic on terrestrial vertebrates. Many species transmit diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.
noun
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Ticking.
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A cloth case for a mattress or pillow.
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A light mattress without inner springs.
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Credit or an amount of credit.
noun
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A light touch; pat.
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A light clicking or tapping sound, as that made by the escapement of a watch or clock.
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A mark (✓, /, etc.) made to check off items; check mark.
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(brit., informal) Moment; instant.
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(informal) A tiny degree or increment.
noun
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To make a tick or series of ticks, as a clock.
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To indicate, record, or count by a tick or ticks.
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(chiefly brit.) To mark or check off (an item on a list, etc.) with a tick.
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Any of a superfamily (Ixodoidea, order Parasitiformes) of wingless, bloodsucking mites, including many species that transmit diseases and are usually parasitic on humans, cattle, sheep, etc.
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Any of various wingless, parasitic insects.
noun
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(chiefly brit., informal) Credit; trust.

To buy something on tick.

noun
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Any of various small bloodsucking arachnids of the order Ixodida that are parasitic on terrestrial vertebrates. Many species transmit diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.
noun
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Any of various usually wingless insects that resemble a tick, such as a sheep ked.
noun
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Any of numerous small, parasitic arachnids of the suborder Ixodida that feed on the blood of animals. Like their close relatives the mites and unlike spiders, ticks have no division between cephalothorax and abdomen. Ticks differ from mites by being generally larger and having a sensory pit at the end of their first pair of legs. Many ticks transmit febrile diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.
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The minimum price movement on a futures contract. If the tick is up, it is called an uptick; if it is down, it is called a downtick.
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(fauna) A tiny woodland arthropod of the order Acarina.
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A relatively quiet but sharp sound generally made repeatedly by moving machinery.

The steady tick of the clock provided a comforting background for the conversation.

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A mark on any scale of measurement; a unit of measurement.

At midday, the long bond is up a tick.

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(computing) A jiffy (unit of time defined by basic timer frequency).
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(colloquial) A short period of time, particularly a second.

I'll be back in a tick.

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(Australia, New Zealand, UK) A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement; checkmark.

Indicate that you are willing to receive marketing material by putting a tick in the box.

noun
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To make a clicking noise similar to the movement of the hands in an analog clock.
verb
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To make a tick mark.
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(informal) To work or operate, especially mechanically.

He took the computer apart to see how it ticked.

I wonder what makes her tick.

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To strike gently; to pat.
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(uncountable) Ticking.
noun
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A sheet that wraps around a mattress; the cover of a mattress, containing the filling.
noun
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(UK, colloquial) Credit, trust.
noun
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To go on trust, or credit.
verb
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To give tick; to trust.
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Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
verb
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The definition of a tick is a recurring noise.

An example of a tick is the sound of a watch or clock.

noun
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A light, sharp, clicking sound made repeatedly by a machine, such as a clock.
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tick off
  • to reprimand
  • to make angry or irritable
idiom
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
tick
Plural:
ticks

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

Origin of tick

  • Middle English tikke probably from Middle Dutch tīke ultimately from Latin thēca receptacle from Greek thēkē dhē- in Indo-European roots

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

  • Middle English tike, tik perhaps from Old English ticca

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

  • Middle English tik light tap

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

  • Short for ticket

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

  • From Old English ticia (“parasitic animal"), from West Germanic, compare Dutch teek, German Zecke.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English tike, probably from Middle Dutch, from Latin theca (“cover")

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English tek (“light touch", "tap")

    From Wiktionary

  • From ticket

    From Wiktionary

Tick Sentence Examples

  • The tick in his jaw belied how tightly his teeth were clamped.

  • Who knew what would tick him off?

  • He had a personality that would tick off Mother Theresa.

  • In the United States alone the annual pecuniary loss in cattle stock occasioned by the ravages of this tick disease was computed in 1907 at one hundred million dollars.

  • The size of the river made Lana tick off one of her alternatives.

More sentences

Related articles

Also Mentioned In

Words near tick in the Dictionary