tick


Definition: Meaning of, tick in English to English dictionary.

Pronunciation: / tɪk /

  • noun
  • synonym
  • antonym
Word Forms:
Singular Plural
tick ticks
  1. [countable] British English a mark written next to an answer, something on a list etc, to show that it is correct or has been dealt with [=  check American English]
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  2. [countable] a very small animal like an insect that lives under the skin of other animals and sucks their blood
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  3. [singular] the short repeated sound that a clock or watch makes every second
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  4. [countable] spoken especially British English a very short time [=  moment]
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  5. on tick British English informal old-fashioned if you buy something on tick, you arrange to take it now and pay later [=  credit]
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  • verb
  • synonym
  • antonym
Word Forms:
Prsesent Past Past Participle
tick ticked ticked
Present Participle Third Person Singular
ticking ticks
  1. [intransitive] also tick away if a clock or watch ticks, it makes a short repeated sound
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  2. [transitive] British English to mark a test, list of questions etc with a tick, in order to show that something is correct, to choose something etc [=  check American English]
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  3. what makes somebody tick informal the thoughts, feelings, opinions etc that give someone their character or make them behave in a particular way
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  4. tick all the right boxes informal if something ticks all the right boxes, it does everything that you wanted it to do or is everything you wanted it to be
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tick used in phrases

  • American dog tick (noun)
    1. common tick that can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia
  • Indian tick fever (noun)
    1. ixodid common in India and around the Mediterranean area a disease caused by a rickettsia that is transmitted to humans by a reddish brown tick that lives on dogs and other mammals
  • black-legged tick (noun)
    1. deer tick especially New England parasitic on mice of genus Peromyscus and bites humans; principal vector for Lyme disease in eastern United States ; northern form was for a time known as Ixodes dammini
  • deer tick (noun)
    1. a northeastern tick now recognized as same species as Ixodes scapularis
  • hard tick (noun)
    1. ticks having a hard shield on the back and mouth parts that project from the head
  • horse tick (noun)
    1. winged fly parasitic on horses
  • sheep tick (noun)
    1. wingless fly that is an external parasite on sheep and cattle
    2. acute viral disease of the nervous system parasitic on sheep and cattle as well as humans; can transmit looping ill in sheep ; a vector for Lyme disease spirochete
  • soft tick (noun)
    1. tick lacking a dorsal shield and having mouth parts on the under side of the head
  • tick fever (noun)
    1. caused by rickettsial bacteria and transmitted by wood ticks
  • tick trefoil (noun)
    1. any of various tropical and subtropical plants having trifoliate leaves and rough sticky pod sections or loments
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tick used in phrasal verbs

  • tick away (phrasal verb)
    1. tick away or tick by [intransitive] if time ticks away or ticks by, it passes
    2. [intransitive/transitive] if a clock ticks away or ticks time away, it shows that time is passing
  • tick off (phrasal verb)
    1. British English to put the symbol ✓ next to something on a list to show that you have dealt with it
    2. to count things on your fingers as you talk about them
  • tick over (phrasal verb)
    1. if a car engine is ticking over, it is operating but the car is not moving
    2. informal to operate steadily but not very well
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