| 1. | a slight, sharp, recurring click, tap, or beat, as of a clock. |
| 2. | Chiefly British Informal. a moment or instant. |
| 3. | a small dot, mark, check, or electronic signal, as used to mark off an item on a list, serve as a reminder, or call attention to something. |
| 4. | Stock Exchange.
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| 5. | Manège. a jumping fault consisting of a light touch of a fence with one or more feet. |
| 6. | a small contrasting spot of color on the coat of a mammal or the feathers of a bird. |
| 7. | to emit or produce a tick, like that of a clock. |
| 8. | to pass as with ticks of a clock: The hours ticked by. |
| 9. | to sound or announce by a tick or ticks: The clock ticked the minutes. |
| 10. | to mark with a tick or ticks; check (usually fol. by off); to tick off the items on the memo. |
| 11. | tick off, Slang.
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| 12. | what makes one tick, the motive or explanation of one's behavior: The biographer failed to show what made Herbert Hoover tick. |

tick
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TICK
tick 2 (tĭk)
n.
Any of numerous small bloodsucking parasitic arachnids of the families Ixodidae and Argasidae, many of which transmit febrile diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.
Any of various usually wingless, louselike insects of the family Hippobosciddae that are parasitic on sheep, goats, and other animals.
| tick (tĭk) Pronunciation Key
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. |