STICK

I. noun Etymology: Middle English stik, from Old English sticca; akin to Old Norse stik ~, Old English stician to ~ Date: before 12th century a woody piece or part of a tree or shrub: as, a usually dry or dead severed shoot, twig, or slender branch, a cut or broken branch or piece of wood gathered for fuel or construction material, 2. a long slender piece of wood or metal: as, a club or staff used as a weapon, walking ~ , an implement used for striking or propelling an object in a game, something used to force compliance, a baton symbolizing an office or dignity, a piece of the materials composing something (as a building), any of various implements resembling a ~ in shape, origin, or use: as, composing ~ , an airplane lever operating the elevators and ailerons, the gearshift lever of an automobile, something prepared (as by cutting, molding, or rolling) in a relatively long and slender often cylindrical form , 6. person , chap , a dull, inert, stiff, or spiritless person, remote usually rural districts regarded especially as backward, dull, or unsophisticated ; boondocks , an herbaceous stalk resembling a woody ~ , mast I,1, a piece of furniture, 11. a number of bombs arranged for release from a bombing plane in a series across a target, a number of parachutists dropping together, a marijuana cigarette, 13. punishment or the threat of punishment used to force compliance or cooperation , criticism , abuse , ~like adjective II. transitive verb Date: 1937 to hit or propel (as a hockey puck) with a ~, III. verb (stuck; ~ing) Etymology: Middle English stikken, from Old English stician; akin to Old High German ~en to prick, Latin instigare to urge on, goad, Greek stizein to tattoo Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to pierce with something pointed ; stab , to kill by piercing, to push or thrust so as or as if to pierce, 3. to fasten by thrusting in, impale , push , thrust , to put or set in a specified place or position, to furnish with things fastened on by or as if by piercing, to attach by or as if by causing to adhere to a surface, 7. to compel to pay especially by trickery , overcharge , 8. to halt the movement or action of, baffle , stump , 9. cheat , defraud , to saddle with something disadvantageous or disagreeable , to execute (a landing) flawlessly in gymnastics, intransitive verb to hold to something firmly by or as if by adhesion:, to become fixed in place by means of a pointed end, to become fast by or as if by miring or by gluing or plastering , 2. to remain in a place, situation, or environment, to hold fast or adhere resolutely ; cling , to remain effective, to keep close in a chase or competition, to become blocked, wedged, or jammed, 4. balk , scruple , to find oneself baffled, to be unable to proceed, project , protrude , Synonyms: see: ~ IV. noun Date: 1633 a thrust with a pointed instrument ; stab , 2. delay , stop , impediment , adhesive quality or substance