<B>tick</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the quick, light sound made by a watch or clock. <DD><B> 2. </B>a sound like it. <BR> <I>Ex. the tick of a moth against the windowpane.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a moment or second; instant. <BR> <I>Ex. I'll be with you in a tick.</I> (SYN) jiffy. <DD><B> 4. </B>a small mark, such as a check mark, made to indicate something. <BR> <I>Ex. He put a tick opposite each job that was done on his list.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to make a tick or ticks. <BR> <I>Ex. The clock ticks louder and louder in a quiet room.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) to function, work, or go. <BR> <I>Ex. What makes the gadget tick?</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to mark off. <BR> <I>Ex. The clock ticked away the minutes.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to mark with a tick or ticks; check. <BR> <I>Ex. He ticked the items delivered one by one.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tick off,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to mark or check off. </I> <I>Ex. to tick off the items on a list.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) to say quickly; rattle off. <BR> <I>Ex. She now has so many clothes ... and she can tick off the labels as readily as if they were the names of the songs she has recorded (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Informal.) to reprove severely. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] tried to tick me off, once; and I lost my temper (M. Cole).</I> <DD><B> d. </B>(Informal.) to make angry. <BR> <I>Ex. And then Durward showed up for lunch an hour and 20 minutes late. Daddy was really ticked off (Maclean's).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tick over,</B> (British.) <DD><B> a. </B>to run slowly without transmitting power; idle. A motor ticks over when it is out of gear and running slowly. </I> <I>Ex. The engines were started and allowed to tick over for about 10 minutes or so, to warm up gradually (C. F. S. Gamble).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Slang.) to work; function; operate. <BR> <I>Ex. Students ... would keep the place ticking over in the evening (London Daily Telegraph).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tick">
<B>tick</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a tiny eight-legged animal, related to the spider, that attaches itself to the skin of mammals, birds, and reptiles and sucks their blood. Ticks carry various infectious diseases which attack people or animals. <BR> <I>Ex. Meanwhile certain wise old Western cattle growers ... had a notion that Texas fever was caused by an insect living on the cattle and sucking blood ... called a tick (Paul de Kruif).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a dipterous or wingless insect, such as the sheep tick, that sucks the blood of certain animals, including sheep, cattle, or deer. </DL>
<A NAME="tick">
<B>tick</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the cloth covering of a mattress or pillow. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) ticking. </DL>
<A NAME="tick">
<B>tick</B> (4), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) credit; trust. <BR> <I>Ex. to buy something on tick. This villainous habit of living upon tick (Robert L. Stevenson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tickbird">
<B>tickbird, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the ani, a kind of cuckoo. It often feeds on ticks that infest cattle and other animals. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=oxpecker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ticker">
<B>ticker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that ticks. <DD><B> 2. </B>a telegraphic instrument that prints market reports or news on a paper tape; stock ticker. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) a watch or clock. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Slang, Figurative.) the heart. </DL>
<A NAME="tickertape">
<B>ticker tape,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cellophane or paper tape on which a ticker prints stock-market reports or news. </DL>
<A NAME="tickertapeparade">
<B>ticker-tape parade,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a parade through the streets of a city in honor of a visiting celebrity or dignitary, accompanied by showers of ticker tape or the like thrown from buildings. </DL>
<A NAME="ticket">
<B>ticket, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a card or piece of paper that gives its holder a right or privilege. <BR> <I>Ex. a ticket to the theater, a railroad ticket, a lottery ticket, a laundry ticket.</I> (SYN) voucher, coupon. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) a summons given by a policeman to a person who has broken a law to pay a fine or appear in court, usually with reference to traffic violations. <BR> <I>Ex. a ticket for speeding, a parking ticket.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a card or piece of paper attached to something to show its price, what it is or consists of, or some similar information. <DD><B> 4. </B>the list of candidates to be voted on that belong to one political party. <BR> <I>Ex. to vote the Republican ticket.</I> (SYN) slate. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Banking.) a temporary record, as of transactions before their recording in a more permanent form. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Slang.) a certificate. <BR> <I>Ex. a chief engineer's ticket.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Obsolete.) a notice posted in a public place; placard. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put a ticket on; mark with a ticket. <BR> <I>Ex. All articles in the store are ticketed with the price.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to describe or mark as if by a ticket; label; designate; characterize. <DD><B> 3. </B>to furnish with a ticket, especially an airplane or a railroad ticket. <BR> <I>Ex. We were 'ticketed through to the depot' (Longfellow).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) to serve with a summons. <BR> <I>Ex. ticketed for careless driving (Time).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the ticket,</B> </I>(Informal.) the correct or proper thing. <BR> <I>Ex. A small, flat trailer ... would be just the ticket for an overnight stop in a throughway service area (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="ticketholder">
<B>ticketholder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who has a ticket of admission. </DL>
<A NAME="ticketless">
<B>ticketless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having no ticket. </DL>
<A NAME="ticketofleave">
<B>ticket of leave,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a permit formerly given in Great Britain and Australia, granting a convict his liberty before his sentence has expired, provided he obeys certain conditions. adj. <B>ticket-of-leave.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ticketofleaveman">
<B>ticket-of-leave man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a convict released on parole. </DL>
<A NAME="ticketyboo">
<B>tickety-boo, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) all right; fine; OK. </DL>
<A NAME="tickey">
<B>tickey, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eys.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in South Africa) a threepenny piece; threepence. Also, <B>ticky.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tickfever">
<B>tick fever,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a fever attacking people or cattle, transmitted by ticks, especially Rocky Mountain spotted fever. <DD><B> 2. </B>an infectious blood disease of cattle, often fatal when acute, caused by an animal parasite thatis carried by certain ticks, and characterized by fever, destruction of red blood corpuscles, and emaciation; Texas fever. </DL>
<A NAME="ticking">
<B>ticking, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strong cotton or linen cloth, used to cover mattresses and pillows and to make tents and awnings. </DL>
<A NAME="tickle">
<B>tickle, </B>verb, <B>-led,</B> <B>-ling,</B> noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>to touch lightly, causing little thrills, shivers, or wriggles. <BR> <I>Ex. He tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to cause to have such a feeling. <BR> <I>Ex. Don't tickle me.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to excite pleasurably; amuse; please. <BR> <I>Ex. The child was tickled with his new toys. This joke will really tickle you.</I> (SYN) divert. <DD><B> 3. </B>to play, stir, get, or move with light touches or strokes. <BR> <I>Ex. to tickle a piano or guitar, to tickle a fire.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to stir up or refresh (the memory). <DD><I>v.i. </I> to have a tickling feeling. <BR> <I>Ex. My nose tickles from the dust and I want to scratch it.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a tingling or itching feeling. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of tickling. <DD><I>adj. </I> (Dialect.) easily upset or overthrown; insecure; tottering. <BR><I>expr. <B>be tickled pink,</B> </I>(Informal.) to be very pleased; be delighted. <BR> <I>Ex. We were tickled pink to see our friends on television.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tickler">
<B>tickler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that tickles, especially a small feather brush used to tickle the faces of others, as at a carnival or party. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) a memorandum book, card index, or other device kept to remind, as of engagements or payments due. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) a difficult or puzzling problem; teaser; puzzler. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Electronics.) tickler coil. </DL>
<A NAME="ticklercoil">
<B>tickler coil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Electronics.) a small coil in a vacuum tube that couples inductively the plate circuit with the grid circuit, so that a portion of the amplified signal is returned for additional amplification. </DL>
<A NAME="ticklish">
<B>ticklish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>sensitive to tickling. <BR> <I>Ex. The bottoms of the feet are ticklish.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>requiring careful handling; delicate; risky. <BR> <I>Ex. a ticklish assignment. Telling a person his faults is a ticklish job.</I> (SYN) precarious. <DD><B> 3a. </B>easily upset; unstable. <BR> <I>Ex. A canoe is a ticklish craft.</I> (SYN) unsteady, shaky. <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. a very proud and ticklish fellow.</I> (SYN) touchy. adv. <B>ticklishly.</B> noun <B>ticklishness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tickseed">
<B>tickseed, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of various plants with seeds that look like ticks, such as a coreopsis or a bugseed. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=tick trefoil.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tickseedsunflower">
<B>tickseed sunflower,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various bur marigolds having conspicuous yellow flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="ticktack">
<B>tick-tack, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a device for making a ticking or tapping sound, as against a window or door in playing a practical joke. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=tick-tock.</B> Also, <B>tic-tac.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ticktacktoe">
<B>tick-tack-toe, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a game in which two players alternately put circles or crosses in a figure of nine squares, each player trying to be the first to fill three spaces in a row with his mark. <DD><B> 2. </B>a children's game in which the players, without looking, bring a pencil down on a slate or sheet of paper with a set of numbers drawn on it, the number hit being scored. <DD><B> 3. </B>the practical joke of using a tick-tack. Also, <B>tic-tac-toe,</B> <B>tit-tat-toe.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="ticktock">
<B>tick-tock, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the sound made by a clock or watch. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make this sound; tick. <BR> <I>Ex. A tall clock tick-tocked on the stair.</I> </DL>
