I. NOUN USES
(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a thin branch which has fallen off a tree.
...people carrying bundles of dried ~s to sell for firewood.
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is a long thin piece of wood which is used for supporting someone’s weight or for hitting people or animals.
He looks old and walks with a ~...
Crowds armed with ~s and stones took to the streets.
N-COUNT
see also carrot and ~
3.
A ~ is a long thin piece of wood which is used for a particular purpose.
...kebab ~s.
...lolly ~s.
...drum ~s.
N-COUNT: usu n N
4.
Some long thin objects that are used in sports are called ~s.
...lacrosse ~s.
...hockey ~s.
...ski-~s.
N-COUNT: usu n N
5.
A ~ of something is a long thin piece of it.
...a ~ of celery.
...cinnamon ~s.
N-COUNT: usu N of n, n N
6.
If you give someone some ~, you criticize them or tease them roughly. (BRIT INFORMAL)
It’s not motorists who give you the most ~, it’s the general public...
I get some ~ from the lads because of my faith but I don’t mind.
N-UNCOUNT
7.
If you say that someone lives in the ~s, you mean that they live a long way from any large cities. (INFORMAL)
He lived out in the ~s somewhere.
N-PLURAL: the N disapproval
8.
If someone gets the wrong end of the ~ or gets hold of the wrong end of the ~, they do not understand something correctly and get the wrong idea about it. (INFORMAL)
PHRASE: V inflects
II. VERB USES
(~s, ~ing, stuck)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
Please look at category 9 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
If you ~ something somewhere, you put it there in a rather casual way. (INFORMAL)
He folded the papers and stuck them in his desk drawer...
Jack opened his door and stuck his head out.
VERB: V n prep/adv, V n prep/adv
2.
If you ~ a pointed object in something, or if it ~s in something, it goes into it or through it by making a cut or hole.
Some punk stuck a knife in her last night...
The soldiers went at once to the mound and began to ~ their bayonets through it...
The knife stuck in the ground at his feet.
VERB: V n in/into/through n, V n in/into/through n, V in n
3.
If something is ~ing out from a surface or object, it extends up or away from it. If something is ~ing into a surface or object, it is partly in it.
They lay where they had fallen from the crane, ~ing out of the water...
His hair ~s up in half a dozen directions.
...when we see her with lots of tubes and needles ~ing into her little body.
VERB: V adv/prep, V adv/prep, V adv/prep
4.
If you ~ one thing to another, you attach it using glue, ~y tape, or another ~y substance.
We just stuck it to the window...
He has nowhere to ~ up his posters...
Stick down any loose bits of flooring.
VERB: V n prep, V n with adv, V n with adv
5.
If one thing ~s to another, it becomes attached to it and is difficult to remove.
Peel away the waxed paper if it has stuck to the bottom of the cake...
If left to stand, cooked pasta ~s together.
VERB: V to n, V together
6.
If something ~s in your mind, you remember it for a long time.
The incident stuck in my mind because it was the first example I had seen of racism in that country...
VERB: V in n
7.
If something which can usually be moved ~s, it becomes fixed in one position.
The needle on the dial went right round to fifty feet, which was as far as it could go, and there it stuck...
VERB: V
8.
see also stuck
9.
to ~ in your throat: see throat