tick1

[tik] /tɪk/
noun
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.
  1. a movement in the price of a stock, bond, or option.
  2. the smallest possible tick on a given exchange.
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.
verb (used without object)
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.
verb (used with object)
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 followed by off); to tick off the items on the memo.
Verb phrases
11.
tick off, Slang.
  1. to make angry:
    His mistreatment of the animals really ticked me off.
  2. Chiefly British. to scold severely:
    The manager will tick you off if you make another mistake.
Idioms
12.
what makes one tick, the motive or explanation of one's behavior:
The biographer failed to show what made Herbert Hoover tick.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English tek little touch; akin to Dutch tik a touch, pat, Norwegian tikka to touch or shove slightly. See tickle

tick2

[tik] /tɪk/
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 are vectors of disease.
2.
sheeptick.
Origin
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

tick3

[tik] /tɪk/
noun
1.
the cloth case of a mattress, pillow, etc., containing hair, feathers, or the like.
2.
ticking.
Also called bedtick.
Origin
1425-75; late Middle English tikke, teke, tyke (cognate with Dutch tijk, German Zieche) ≪ Latin tēca, thēca < Greek thḗkē case

tick4

[tik] /tɪk/
noun, Chiefly British Informal.
1.
a score or account.
Idioms
2.
on tick, on credit or trust:
We bought our telly on tick.
Origin
1635-45; short for ticket
Examples from the web for tick
  • For decades, scientists and doctors have been trying to peek into our heads and figure out what makes us tick.
  • It's always a pleasure to find out what makes our favorite gadgets tick.
  • If an attached tick is discovered, there is no reason to panic.
  • From vampire bats to stinging mosquitoes, discover out what makes bloodsucking animals tick.
  • Thinking about that number provides an opportunity to talk about where we're headed and what makes us tick.
  • But its impact is not likely to be felt during this summer's tick onslaught.
  • Simple insect repellent will help cavers avoid tick bites.
  • Twitter and the other free-answer services may be ingenious new channels-but it's human nature that makes them tick.
  • Now that he has corrected his mistake and returned to her side, her support will tick up again.
  • They lacked the structures and proteins that now make them tick.
British Dictionary definitions for tick

tick1

/tɪk/
noun
1.
a recurrent metallic tapping or clicking sound, such as that made by a clock or watch
2.
(Brit, informal) a moment or instant
3.
a mark (✓) or dash used to check off or indicate the correctness of something
4.
(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
5.
to produce a recurrent tapping sound or indicate by such a sound: the clock ticked the minutes away
6.
when tr, often foll by off. to mark or check (something, such as a list) with a tick
7.
(informal) what makes someone tick, the basic drive or motivation of a person
See also tick off, tick over
Word Origin
C13: from Low German tikk touch; related to Old High German zekōn to pluck, Norwegian tikke to touch

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 (sense 1) related adjective acaroid
2.
any of certain other arachnids of the order Acarina
3.
any of certain insects of the dipterous family Hippoboscidae that are ectoparasitic on horses, cattle, sheep, etc, esp the sheep ked
Word Origin
Old English ticca; related to Middle High German zeche tick, Middle Irish dega stag beetle

tick3

/tɪk/
noun
1.
(Brit, informal) account or credit (esp in the phrase on tick)
Word Origin
C17: shortened from ticket

tick4

/tɪk/
noun
1.
the strong covering of a pillow, mattress, etc
2.
(informal) short for ticking
Word Origin
C15: probably from Middle Dutch tīke; related to Old High German ziecha pillow cover, Latin tēca case, Greek thēkē
Word Origin and History for tick
n.

parasitic blood-sucking arachnid animal, Old English ticia, from West Germanic *tik- (cf. Middle Dutch teke, Dutch teek, Old High German zecho, German Zecke "tick"), of unknown origin. French tique (mid-15c.), Italian zecca are Germanic loan-words.

mid-15c., "light touch or tap," probably from tick (v.) and cognate with Dutch tik, Middle High German zic, and perhaps echoic. Meaning "sound made by a clock" is probably first recorded 1540s; tick-tock is recorded from 1848.

"credit," 1640s, shortening of ticket (n.).

v.

early 13c., "to touch or pat," perhaps from an Old English verb corresponding to tick (n.2), and perhaps ultimately echoic. Cf. Old High German zeckon "to pluck," Dutch tikken "to pat," Norwegian tikke "touch lightly." Related: Ticked; ticking.

To tick (someone) off is from 1915, originally "to reprimand, scold." The verbal phrase tick off was in use in several senses at the time: as what a telegraph instrument does when it types out a message (1873), as what a clock does in marking the passage of time (1846), to enumerate on one's fingers (1899), and in accountancy, etc., "make a mark beside an item on a sheet with a pencil, etc.," often indicating a sale (by 1881). This might be the direct source of the phrase, perhaps via World War I military bureaucratic sense of being marked off from a list as "dismissed" or "ineligible." Meaning "to annoy" is recorded from 1975.

tick in Medicine

tick 2 (tĭk)
n.

  1. 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.

  2. Any of various usually wingless, louselike insects of the family Hippobosciddae that are parasitic on sheep, goats, and other animals.

tick in Science
tick
  (tĭk)   
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.
Slang definitions & phrases for tick

tick 1

noun

Credit: plenty of canned goods and plenty of tick at the store

[1642+; fr ticket]


tick 2

noun
  1. A degree, esp of upward motion or increase; adiscrete amount: if the price would have stayed where it was or skipped up a few more ticks (1970+)
  2. Asecond; a JIFFY: I'll be there in a couple of ticks (1879+)
Related Terms

ricky-tick, uptick, what makes someone tick


tick 3

Related Terms

tight as a tick


tick in Technology


1. A jiffy (sense 1). 2. In simulations, the discrete unit of time that passes between iterations of the simulation mechanism. In AI applications, this amount of time is often left unspecified, since the only constraint of interest is the ordering of events. This sort of AI simulation is often pejoratively referred to as "tick-tick-tick" simulation, especially when the issue of simultaneity of events with long, independent chains of causes is handwaved. 3. In the FORTH language, a single quote character.
[Jargon File]

Idioms and Phrases with tick

tick

In addition to the idiom beginning with
tick
also see: