stick out

Slang Dictionary

stick definition


  1. n.
    a baseball bat. (Baseball.) : He holds the stick up higher than most batters.
  2. n.
    a pool cue. : He drew the stick back slowly, sighted again, and gave the cue ball a sharp knock.
  3. n.
    a golf club. : These aren't my sticks, and you aren't my caddy. What's going on around here?
  4. n.
    the lever that controls the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the tail of an aircraft. : The pilot pulled back on the stick, and the plane did nothing—being that he hadn't even started the engine or anything. , You pull back on the stick, which lowers the tail and raises the nose, and up you go.
  5. n.
    a gearshift lever in a car. (See also stick shift.) : I keep reaching for the stick in a
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

stick out

  1. Also, stick out a mile or like a sore thumb. Be very prominent or conspicuous, as in Dad's funny hat made him stick out in the crowd, or That purple house sticks out a mile, or John's lie sticks out like a sore thumb. The first term dates from the mid-1500s, the variants from the first half of the 1900s. The variant using thumb alludes to the propensity for holding an injured thumb stiffly, making it stand out (and thereby risking further injury).

  2. Continue doing something, endure something, as in I know you don't like it but you have to stick out the job for another month. [Late 1600s] A variant is stick it out, as in His new play's boring, but since he's my cousin we'd better stick it out. [Late 1800s] Also see stick it, def. 1.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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