tic

tic

[tik]
noun
1.
Pathology.
a.
a sudden, spasmodic, painless, involuntary muscular contraction, as of the face.
2.
a persistent or recurrent behavioral trait; personal quirk: her distinctive verbal tics.

Origin:
1790–1800; < French (of expressive orig.)

tic, tick.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

-tic

a suffix, equivalent in meaning to -ic, occurring in adjectives of Greek origin (analytic), used especially in the formation of adjectives from nouns with stems in -sis: hematotic; neurotic.

Origin:
< Greek -tikos, extracted from adjectives derived with -ikos -ic from agent nouns ending in -tēs; cf. hieratic

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To tic
00:10
Tic is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
Collins
World English Dictionary
tic (tɪk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  spasmodic twitching of a particular group of muscles
2.  See tic douloureux
 
[C19: from French, of uncertain origin; compare Italian ticche]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tic
twitching of a facial muscle, 1822, often a shortening of tic douloureux "severe facial neuralgia," lit. "painful twitch" (1800), from Fr. tic "a twitching disease of horses" (1611), of unknown origin. Klein suggests an imitative origin; Fr. etymologists compare it to It. ticchio "whim, caprice."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

tic (tĭk)
n.
A habitual spasmodic muscular movement or contraction, usually of the face or extremities. Also called habit spasm.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

tongue in cheek definition


and TIC
  1. phr. & comp. abb.
    a phrase said when the speaker is joking or not being sincere. : My comment was made TIC. Don't take me seriously.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
TIC
  1. tongue in cheek

  2. total inorganic carbon

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT