/ sɪk; NAmE / adjective , noun , verb
■ adjective
ILL
1.
physically or mentally ill :
a sick child
Her mother's very sick.
Peter has been off sick (= away from work because he is ill) for two weeks.
Emma has just called in sick (= telephoned to say she will not be coming to work because she is ill) .
Britain's workers went sick (= did not go to work because they were ill) for a record number of days last year.
( NAmE )
I can't afford to get sick (= become ill) .
WANTING TO VOMIT
2.
[ not usually before noun ] ( especially BrE ) feeling that you want to vomit :
Mum, I feel sick !
If you eat any more cake you'll make yourself sick .
a sick feeling in your stomach
-SICK
3.
(in compounds) feeling sick as a result of travelling on a ship, plane, etc. :
seasick
airsick
carsick
travel-sick
BORED
4.
sick of sb/sth | sick of doing sth ( informal ) bored with or annoyed about sth that has been happening for a long time, and wanting it to stop :
I'm sick of the way you've treated me.
We're sick of waiting around like this.
I'm sick and tired of your moaning.
I'm sick to death of all of you!
CRUEL / STRANGE
5.
( informal ) ( especially of humour ) dealing with suffering, disease or death in a cruel way that some people think is offensive :
a sick joke
That's really sick.
6.
( informal ) getting enjoyment from doing strange or cruel things :
a sick mind
People think I'm sick for having a rat as a pet.
We live in a sick society.
—see also homesick , lovesick
•
IDIOMS
- be sick
- be worried sick; be sick with worry
- fall sick
- make sb sick
- (as) sick as a dog
- (as) sick as a parrot
- sick at heart
- sick to your stomach
■ noun
VOMIT
1.
[ U ] ( BrE , informal ) food that you bring back up from your stomach through your mouth
SYN vomit
ILL PEOPLE
2.
the sick [ pl. ] people who are ill / sick :
All the sick and wounded were evacuated.
■ verb
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- sick sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English sēoc affected by illness , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch ziek and German siech .