I. ˈtik noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English tyke, teke; akin to Old English ticia tick, Middle High German zeche tick, Middle Irish dega stag beetle, Armenian tiz tick
1. : any of numerous arachnids that constitute the acarine superfamily Ixodoidea, are much larger than the closely related mites, are bloodsuckers which attach themselves to warm-blooded vertebrates to feed, are chiefly important as vectors of various infectious diseases of man and lower animals, and although the immature larva has but six legs, may be readily distinguished from an insect by the complete lack of external segmentation
2. : any of various usually wingless parasitic dipterous insects (as a bird tick, sheep ked, or bat fly)
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II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English tek; akin to Middle High German zic light push, tick, Norwegian dialect tikka to push lightly, touch lightly and probably to Middle English teke tick (arachnid)
1.
a. obsolete : a light touch : tap
b. Britain : tag
2.
a.
(1) : a light quick distinct audible tapping sound especially in a rhythmic series
the beating of the metronome … at 120 ticks per minute — R.S.Woodworth
also : a series of such ticks
the breathless tick of the clock — Berton Roueché
(2) : a pulsation or series of pulsations likened to the tick of a clock
his heart gave a tick — Marguerite Steen
b. chiefly Britain : the time taken or indicated by the tick of a clock : a very small interval of time : moment , second
we'll be ready in a couple of ticks — Richard Llewellyn
3.
a. : a dot, speck, dash, or check used to direct attention to something, to mark off an item (as on a list) as having been examined, to represent a point on a scale, or as a symbolic abbreviation
making ticks in a mail-order catalogue on her lap with a pencil stub — Arthur Mayse
had to start all over again, using the same letters with ticks to signify higher decimal orders — Lancelot Hogben
the intervals on the scale are marked off by lines and ticks — C.F.Schmid
b. : a small spot of a different color on a furred or feathered creature
•
- on the tick
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to make the sound of a tick or a continuous series of ticks
listening to the clock tick
b. : to make a muted oscillating somewhat regular rumbling noise — used of an idling internal-combustion engine; also : idle 2 — usually used with over
2. : to take place in or be a measured or regular especially temporal sequence
meantime life in the ward ticked away as usual — Earle Birney
the telephone poles ticking past — Harper's
3. : to take place, come into existence, or arrive to the accompaniment of ticks
the sports news has been ticking in from places of which few Americans have ever heard — Horace Sutton
4. : to act in or manifest an often unusual or inexplicable character : operate or function by or as if by a hidden clockwork mechanism
persons who are ticking along fine on one kidney — Time
his mind kept ticking on steadily — Ira Wolfert
— often used in such phrases as what makes one tick
knowledge about my fellow citizens and what makes them tick — Survey Graphic
shows what makes totalitarian society tick — W.H.Chamberlin
find out how and why a modern poet ticked — Mary Barrett
transitive verb
1. : to mark with or as if with a written tick : check
ticking away in his mind the yards yet separating her from the onrushing … destroyer — E.L.Beach
— usually used with off
dashing up and down with lists and ticking off names — Anthony Carson
ticking off small numbers with his fingers — J.A.N.Friend
2. : to mark, note, count, give forth, measure, or announce by or as if by repeated ticking beats
ticking off heroic couplets — H.R.Warfel
his taxicab outside, ominously ticking out the pence and minutes — Osbert Sitwell
clockwork that ticks off the years and their changes — Rose Feld
3. : to touch with a momentary sharp or glancing blow
determining if the ball ticks the net on the serve — J.W.Bunn
ticked the cat under the chin — Raymond Chandler
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English tike, teke, probably from Middle Dutch; akin to Old High German ziahha pillowcase, tick; both from a prehistoric West Germanic word borrowed from Latin theca cover, sheath, from Greek thēkē; akin to Greek tithenai to put, set — more at do
1. : the fabric case usually of ticking of a mattress, pillow, or bolster ; also : a mattress consisting of a tick and its resilient filling
2. : ticking
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: short for ticket (I)
: credit , trust ; also : a credit account
ordered a suit of clothes on tick — W.A.White
VI. intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
obsolete : to buy or sell on credit