TICK • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Tick

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/tɪk/ Listen

verb

Tick v. t. To check off by means of a tick or any small mark; to score. "When I had got all my responsibilities down upon my list, I compared each with the bill and ticked it off."

Tick v. i.

To go on trust, or credit.

To give tick; to trust.

Tick v. i. (past & past part. ticked; pres. part. ticking)

To make a small or repeating noise by beating or otherwise, as a watch does; to beat.

To strike gently; to pat. "Stand not ticking and toying at the branches."

noun

Tick n. Credit; trust; as, to buy on, or upon, tick.

Tick n. (Zool.)

(a)

Any one of numerous species of large parasitic mites which attach themselves to, and suck the blood of, cattle, dogs, and many other animals. When filled with blood they become ovate, much swollen, and usually livid red in color. Some of the species often attach themselves to the human body. The young are active and have at first but six legs.

(b)

Any one of several species of dipterous insects having a flattened and usually wingless body, as the bird ticks (see under Bird) and sheep tick (see under Sheep).

Tick bean, a small bean used for feeding horses and other animals.

Tick trefoil (Bot.), a name given to many plants of the leguminous genus Desmodium, which have trifoliate leaves, and joined pods roughened with minute hooked hairs by which the joints adhere to clothing and to the fleece of sheep.

Tick n.

The cover, or case, of a bed, mattress, etc., which contains the straw, feathers, hair, or other filling.

Ticking. See Ticking, n.

Tick n.

A quick, audible beat, as of a clock.

Any small mark intended to direct attention to something, or to serve as a check.

(Zool.) The whinchat; so called from its note. (Prov. Eng.)

Death tick. (Zool.) See Deathwatch.

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Etymology of 'Tick'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tick" Quotes from Famous Books

... Him for it all—heights of glory, depths of tribulation; thanked Him for whatsoever Infinite Love had given in the days of that dark, dark year now ending. The clock gave a warning tick—it was going; a moment, and it would be gone forever. Into his heart came a great purpose—the purpose to leave the past with the past, and in the new year go out to a new life—a life of love for all the world, of service for all hearts. Over his soul ...

— The Transformation of Job - A Tale of the High Sierras • Frederick Vining Fisher

... down; Wi' little windows straight an' flat, Not big enough to zun a-cat, An' dealen door a-meaede so thin, A puff o' wind would blow en in, Where woone do vind a thing to knock So small's the hammer ov a clock, That wull but meaeke a little click About so loud's a clock do tick! Gi'e me the wold house, wi' the wide An' lofty-lo'ted rooms inside; An' wi' the stwonen pworch avore The nail-bestudded woaken door, That had a knocker very little Less to handle than a bittle, That het a blow that vled so loud Drough house as thunder drough a ...

— Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect • William Barnes

... teeth. It would lie on its back and kick and crow, and double its fists up and try to swallow them alternately, and cross its feet and play with its toes. In fact, it was exactly like any of the thousand-and-one babies that are born into the world at every tick of the clock. ...

— The Blue Lagoon - A Romance • H. de Vere Stacpoole

... motionless with surprise; the weights hung speechless; each member felt disposed to lay the blame on the others. At length the dial instituted a formal inquiry as to the cause of the stagnation; when hands, wheels, weights, with one voice, protested their innocence. But now a faint tick was heard below, from ...

— Children's Literature - A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes • Charles Madison Curry

... on her bed obediently, still keeping her gaze fixed upon me. I knelt at the bedside, and watched her yearningly—while Assunta moistened her lips, and did all she could to ease the pain endured so meekly by the poor little thing whose breathing grew quicker and fainter with every tick of the clock. "You are my papa, are you not?" she asked, a deeper flush crossing her forehead and cheeks. I made no answer—I only kissed the small hot hand I held. ...

— Vendetta - A Story of One Forgotten • Marie Corelli

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