Definition of 'tick'

Word Frequency

tick

(tɪk )

Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense ticks , present participle ticking , past tense, past participle ticked

1. countable noun

A tick is a written mark like a V: ✓. It is used to show that something is correct or has been selected or dealt with.

[mainly British]

His exercise books were full of well deserved red ticks.

Place a tick in the appropriate box.

regional note: in AM, usually use check

Synonyms: check mark, mark, line, stroke More Synonyms of tick

2. verb

If you tick something that is written on a piece of paper, you put a tick next to it.

[mainly British]

Please tick this box if you do not wish to receive such mailings. [VERB noun]

As each boy said yes, he ticked their name. [VERB noun]

regional note: in AM, usually use check

Synonyms: mark, indicate, mark off, check off More Synonyms of tick

3. verb

When a clock or watch ticks, it makes a regular series of short sounds as it works.

A wind-up clock ticked busily from the kitchen counter. [VERB]

Synonyms: click, tap, clack, ticktock More Synonyms of tick

Tick away means the same as tick.

A grandfather clock ticked away in a corner. [VERB PARTICLE]

ticking uncountable noun

...the endless ticking of clocks. [+ of]

4. countable noun

The tick of a clock or watch is the series of short sounds it makes when it is working, or one of those sounds.

He sat listening to the tick of the grandfather clock. [+ of]

Synonyms: click, tap, tapping, clicking More Synonyms of tick

5. countable noun

You can use tick to refer to a very short period of time.

[British, informal]

Just hang on a tick, we may be able to help.

I'll be back in a tick.

I shall be with you in two ticks.

Synonyms: moment, second, minute, shake [informal] More Synonyms of tick

6. verb

If you talk about what makes someone tick, you are talking about the beliefs, wishes, and feelings that make them behave in the way that they do.

[informal]

He wanted to find out what made them tick. [VERB]

I'm interested in how people tick. [VERB]

7. countable noun

A tick is a small creature which lives on the bodies of people or animals and uses their blood as food.

...chemicals that destroy ticks and mites.

Tick bites can cause Lyme disease.

Phrasal verbs:

See tick away

See tick by

See tick off

See tick on

See tick over

More Synonyms of tick

Video: pronunciation of
tick

tick in British English 1

(tɪk )

noun

a recurrent metallic tapping or clicking sound, such as that made by a clock or watch

2. British informal

a moment or instant

a mark (✓) or dash used to check off or indicate the correctness of something

4. business

the smallest increment of a price fluctuation in a commodity exchange. Tick size is usually 0.01% of the nominal value of the trading unit

verb

to produce a recurrent tapping sound or indicate by such a sound

the clock ticked the minutes away

6. (when tr, often foll by off)

to mark or check (something, such as a list) with a tick

7. what makes someone tick

Word origin

C13: from Low German tikk touch; related to Old High German zekōn to pluck, Norwegian tikke to touch

Word Frequency

tick in British English 2

(tɪk )

noun

any of various small parasitic arachnids of the families Ixodidae ( hard ticks) and Argasidae ( soft ticks), typically living on the skin of warm-blooded animals and feeding on the blood and tissues of their hosts: order Acarina ( mites and ticks)

See also sheep tick (sense 1) ▶ Related adjective: acaroid

any of certain other arachnids of the order Acarina

any of certain insects of the dipterous family Hippoboscidae that are ectoparasitic on horses, cattle, sheep, etc, esp the sheep ked

Word origin

Old English ticca; related to Middle High German zeche tick, Middle Irish dega stag beetle

Word Frequency

tick in British English 3

(tɪk )

noun

British informal

account or credit (esp in the phrase on tick)

Word origin

C17: shortened from ticket

Word Frequency

tick in British English 4

(tɪk )

noun

the strong covering of a pillow, mattress, etc

2. informal short for ticking

Word origin

C15: probably from Middle Dutch tīke; related to Old High German ziecha pillow cover, Latin tēca case, Greek thēkē

Word Frequency

tick in American English 1

(tɪk )

noun

a light touch; pat

a light clicking or tapping sound, as that made by the escapement of a watch or clock

a mark (✓, /, etc.) made to check off items; check mark

4. British, Informal

moment; instant

verb intransitive

to make a tick or series of ticks, as a clock

6. Informal

to function characteristically or well; operate; work

what makes him tick?

verb transitive

to indicate, record, or count by a tick or ticks

8. Chiefly British

to mark or check off (an item on a list, etc.) with a tick

usually with off

Idioms:

tick off

Word origin

ME tek, prob. < Gmc echoic base > Du tikk, MHG zicken, to tick; (sense 4) from the time needed for one tick of a clock

Word Frequency

tick in American English 2

(tɪk )

noun

Chiefly British, Informal

credit; trust

to buy something on tick

Word origin

contr. < ticket

Word Frequency

tick in American English 3

(tɪk )

noun

any of a superfamily (Ixodoidea, order Parasitiformes) of wingless, bloodsucking mites, including many species that transmit diseases and are usually parasitic on humans, cattle, sheep, etc.

any of various degenerate, two-winged, parasitic insects

Word origin

ME teke < OE ticia (? for ticca), akin to MDu teke, Ger zecke < IE base *deiĝh-, to prickle, itch > Arm tiz, tick, MIr dega, stag beetle

Word Frequency

tick in American English 4

(tɪk )

noun

a cloth case or covering that is filled with cotton, feathers, hair, etc. to form a mattress or pillow

2. Informal

ticking

Word origin

LME tykke, akin to MDu tyke, both prob. < early WGmc borrowing < L theca, a cover, sheath: see theca

Example sentences including
tick

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…

Last night it finally arrived with time ticking away and the extra period looming.But she knows the clock is ticking.But say you do find a person who ticks all the boxes.It just ticks all the boxes.The reality is that this is becoming more true as the clock ticks towards May.They are just a floating storage system for traders and companies that are waiting for cheap crude oil prices to tick up before they sell.My biological clock is ticking. ALMOST a third of dogs are carrying ticks putting them and their owners at risk, say researchers.What a lot of them are doing is just ticking a box for their ego.They seemed to be about ticking boxes.