tick

1
[ tik ]
See synonyms for tick on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a slight, sharp, recurring click, tap, or beat, as of a clock.

  2. Chiefly British Informal. a moment or instant.

  1. 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.

  2. Stock Exchange.

    • a movement in the price of a stock, bond, or option.

    • the smallest possible tick on a given exchange.

  3. Manège. a jumping fault consisting of a light touch of a fence with one or more feet.

  4. a small contrasting spot of color on the coat of a mammal or the feathers of a bird.

verb (used without object)
  1. to emit or produce a tick, like that of a clock.

  2. to pass as with ticks of a clock: The hours ticked by.

verb (used with object)
  1. to sound or announce by a tick or ticks: The clock ticked the minutes.

  2. to mark with a tick or ticks; check (usually followed by off); to tick off the items on the memo.

Verb Phrases
  1. tick off, Slang.

    • to make angry: His mistreatment of the animals really ticked me off.

    • Chiefly British. to scold severely: The manager will tick you off if you make another mistake.

Idioms about tick

  1. what makes one tick, the motive or explanation of one's behavior: The biographer failed to show what made Herbert Hoover tick.

Origin of tick

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English tek “little touch”; akin to Dutch tik “a touch, pat,” Norwegian tikka “to touch or shove slightly”; see tickle

Words that may be confused with tick

Other definitions for tick (2 of 4)

tick2
[ tik ]

noun
  1. any of numerous bloodsucking arachnids of the order Acarina, including the families Ixodidae and Argasidae, somewhat larger than the related mites and having a barbed proboscis for attachment to the skin of warm-blooded vertebrates: some ticks, as the deer tick, are vectors of disease.

Origin of tick

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English teke, tyke, Old English ticia, perhaps spelling error for tiica (i.e. tīca ) or ticca; akin to Low German tieke, German Zecke

Other definitions for tick (3 of 4)

tick3
[ tik ]

noun
  1. the cloth case of a mattress, pillow, etc., containing hair, feathers, or the like.

Origin of tick

3
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English tikke, teke, tyke (cognate with Dutch tijk, German Zieche ), ultimately derived from Latin tēca, thēca, from Greek thḗkē “case”
  • Also called bed·tick [bed-tik] /ˈbɛdˌtɪk/ .

Other definitions for tick (4 of 4)

tick4
[ tik ]

noun
  1. a score or account.

Origin of tick

4
First recorded in 1635–45; short for ticket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for tick (1 of 4)

tick1

/ (tɪk) /


noun
  1. a recurrent metallic tapping or clicking sound, such as that made by a clock or watch

  2. British informal a moment or instant

  1. a mark (✓) or dash used to check off or indicate the correctness of something

  2. commerce the smallest increment of a price fluctuation in a commodity exchange. Tick size is usually 0.01% of the nominal value of the trading unit

verb
  1. to produce a recurrent tapping sound or indicate by such a sound: the clock ticked the minutes away

  2. (when tr, often foll by off) to mark or check (something, such as a list) with a tick

  1. what makes someone tick informal the basic drive or motivation of a person

Origin of tick

1
C13: from Low German tikk touch; related to Old High German zekōn to pluck, Norwegian tikke to touch

British Dictionary definitions for tick (2 of 4)

tick2

/ (tɪk) /


noun
  1. any of various small parasitic arachnids of the families Ixodidae (hard ticks) and Argasidae (soft ticks), typically living on the skin of warm-blooded animals and feeding on the blood and tissues of their hosts: order Acarina (mites and ticks): See also sheep tick (def. 1) Related adjective: acaroid

  2. any of certain other arachnids of the order Acarina

  1. any of certain insects of the dipterous family Hippoboscidae that are ectoparasitic on horses, cattle, sheep, etc, esp the sheep ked

Origin of tick

2
Old English ticca; related to Middle High German zeche tick, Middle Irish dega stag beetle

British Dictionary definitions for tick (3 of 4)

tick3

/ (tɪk) /


noun
  1. British informal account or credit (esp in the phrase on tick)

Origin of tick

3
C17: shortened from ticket

British Dictionary definitions for tick (4 of 4)

tick4

/ (tɪk) /


noun
  1. the strong covering of a pillow, mattress, etc

  2. informal short for ticking

Origin of tick

4
C15: probably from Middle Dutch tīke; related to Old High German ziecha pillow cover, Latin tēca case, Greek thēkē

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for tick

tick

[ tĭk ]


  1. 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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with tick

tick

In addition to the idiom beginning with tick

  • tickled pink
  • tickle one's fancy
  • tickle the ivories
  • tick off

also see:

  • clock is ticking
  • tight as a tick
  • what makes one tick

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.