I. lick 1 S3 /lɪk/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: liccian ]
1 . TONGUE [transitive] to move your tongue across the surface of something in order to eat it, wet it, clean it etc:
The dog jumped up and licked her face.
lick something ↔ up
A cat licked up the drops spilt on the floor.
lick something off something
He licked the drops off his upper lip.
2 . SPORT [transitive] informal to defeat an opponent:
I bet we could lick the best teams in Georgia.
3 . FLAMES/WAVES [intransitive and transitive] literary if flames or waves lick something, they touch it again and again with quick movements
lick at/against
Soon the flames were licking at the curtains.
4 . have (got) something licked informal to have succeeded in dealing with a difficult problem:
Just when you think you’ve got it licked, it comes back.
5 . lick your lips ( also lick your chops American English ) to feel eager and excited because you are expecting to get something good:
Scottish rugby fans are licking their lips in anticipation.
6 . lick your wounds to quietly think about the defeat or disappointment you have just suffered
7 . lick sb’s boots to obey someone completely because you are afraid of them or want to please them
⇨ knock/lick somebody/something into shape at ↑ shape 1 (3)
II. lick 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable usually singular] when you move your tongue across the surface of something:
Can I have a lick of your ice cream?
2 . a lick of paint/colour etc a small amount of paint etc put onto the surface of something to improve its appearance:
It’ll be okay after a lick of paint.
3 . not a lick of something American English old-fashioned not even a small amount of something:
Ann won’t do a lick of work around the house.
4 . [countable] informal part of a song played on a ↑ guitar :
a bluesy guitar lick
5 . at a great/fair lick British English informal very fast
6 . give something a lick and a promise
a) British English to wash or clean something quickly and carelessly
b) American English to do a job quickly and carelessly
7 . [countable] informal an act of hitting someone