tick

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

tick, n. [Abbrev. from ticket.].

 Credit; trust; as, to buy on, or upon, tick.  [1913 Webster]

tick, v. i. 

•  To go on trust, or credit.  [1913 Webster]
•  To give tick; to trust.  [1913 Webster]

tick, n. [OE. tike, teke; akin to D. teek, G. zecke. Cf. Tike a tick.].

 Any one of numerous species of large parasitic mites which attach themselves to, and suck the blood of, cattle, dogs, and many other animals. When filled with blood they become ovate, much swollen, and usually livid red in color. Some of the species often attach themselves to the human body. The young are active and have at first but six legs.  [1913 Webster]

Tick bean, a small bean used for feeding horses and other animals. -- Tick trefoil (Bot.), a name given to many plants of the leguminous genus Desmodium, which have trifoliate leaves, and joined pods roughened with minute hooked hairs by which the joints adhere to clothing and to the fleece of sheep.

tick, n. [LL. techa, teca, L. theca case, Gr. , fr. to put. See Thesis.].

•  The cover, or case, of a bed, mattress, etc., which contains the straw, feathers, hair, or other filling.  [1913 Webster]
•  Ticking. See Ticking, n.  [1913 Webster]

tick, v. i. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. D. tikken, LG. ticken.].

•  To make a small or repeating noise by beating or otherwise, as a watch does; to beat.  [1913 Webster]
•  To strike gently; to pat.  [1913 Webster]

  "Stand not ticking and toying at the branches."  [1913 Webster]

tick, n. 

•  A quick, audible beat, as of a clock.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any small mark intended to direct attention to something, or to serve as a check.  Dickens.  [1913 Webster]
•  The whinchat; -- so called from its note.  [1913 Webster]

Death tick. (Zoöl.) See Deathwatch.

tick, v. t. 

 To check off by means of a tick or any small mark; to score.  [1913 Webster]
"When I had got all my responsibilities down upon my list, I compared each with the bill and ticked it off."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tick, n. & v.
--n.
1 a slight recurring click esp. that of a watch or clock.
2 esp. Brit. colloq. a moment; an instant.
3 a mark to denote correctness, check items in a list, etc.
--v.
1 intr. a (of a clock etc.) make ticks. b (foll. by away) (of time etc.) pass.
2 intr. (of a mechanism) work, function (take it apart to see how it ticks).
3 tr. a mark (a written answer etc.) with a tick. b (often foll. by off) mark (an item in a list etc.) with a tick in checking.

Idiom

in two ticks Brit. colloq. in a very short time. tick off colloq. reprimand. tick over
1 (of an engine etc.) idle.
2 (of a person, project, etc.) be working or functioning at a basic or minimum level. tick-tack (or tic-tac) Brit. a kind of manual semaphore signalling used by racecourse bookmakers to exchange information. tick-tack-toe US noughts and crosses. tick-tock the ticking of a large clock etc. what makes a person tick colloq. a person's motivation.

Derivative

tickless adj.

tick, n.
1 any of various arachnids of the order Acarina, parasitic on the skin of dogs and cattle etc.
2 any of various insects of the family Hippoboscidae, parasitic on sheep and birds etc.
3 colloq. an unpleasant or despicable person.

Idiom

tick-bird = ox-pecker. tick fever a bacterial or rickettsial fever transmitted by the bite of a tick.

tick, n. colloq. credit (buy goods on tick).

tick, n.
1 the cover of a mattress or pillow.
2 = TICKING.

Etymology

ME tikke, teke f. WG f. L theca f. Gk theke case

THESAURUS

tick

act, arachnid, arthropod, bank credit, be effective, be in action, beat, bedbug, beetle, birthmark, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, bloodsucker, blotch, book credit, borrowing power, brand, breath, bug, bump, cash credit, caste mark, caterpillar, centipede, chalk, chalk up, check, check off, checkmark, chilopod, chink, cicatrix, cicatrize, click, clicking, clink, clop, clump, clunk, commercial credit, consumer credit, coup, crack, credit, credit insurance, credit rating, credit union, crump, cut, daddy longlegs, dapple, dash, define, delimit, demarcate, diplopod, discolor, discoloration, dot, drum, dull thud, earmark, engrave, engraving, flash, fleck, flick, flump, fly, freckle, function, gash, go, go pitapat, graving, hack, half a jiffy, half a mo, half a second, half a shake, harvestman, hatch, have effect, have free play, have play, hexapod, hire purchase plan, impress, imprint, insect, installment credit, installment plan, instant, investment credit, jiff, jiffy, jot, larva, leech, lentigo, line, line of credit, macula, maggot, make a mark, mark, mark off, mark out, marking, microsecond, militate, millepede, millipede, millisecond, minute, mite, mole, moment, mosquito, mottle, never-never, nevus, nick, notch, nymph, operate, pad, palpitate, pant, parasite, pat, patch, patter, pencil, pepper, percolate, perform, perk, pitapat, pitter-patter, play, plump, plunk, point, polka dot, pop, prick, print, pulsate, pulse, punch, punctuate, puncture, rap, rating, riddle, run, scar, scarification, scarify, score, scorpion, scotch, scratch, scratching, seal, seam, sec, second, shake, speck, speckle, spider, splash, split second, splotch, spot, stain, stamp, stigma, stigmatize, strawberry mark, streak, striate, stripe, stroke, take effect, tap, tarantula, tattoo, tattoo mark, tax credit, throb, thud, thump, tick off, ticking, ticktack, ticktick, ticktock, tinkle, tittle, trace, trice, trust, tunk, twink, twinkle, twinkling, twitch, two shakes, underline, underscore, watermark, wink, wood tick, work

ROGET THESAURUS

tick

Credit

N credit, trust, tick, score, tally, account, letter of credit, circular note, duplicate, mortgage, lien, debenture, paper credit, floating capital, draft, lettre de creance, securities, creditor, lender, lessor, mortgagee, dun, usurer, credit account, line of credit, open line of credit, credit card, crediting, credited, accredited, on credit, on account, to the account of, to the credit of, a compte.

Oscillation

VB oscillate, vibrate, librate, alternate, undulate, wave, rock, swing, pulsate, beat, wag, waggle, nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy, tick, play, wamble, wabble, dangle, swag, fluctuate, dance, curvet, reel, quake, quiver, quaver, shake, flicker, wriggle, roll, toss, pitch, flounder, stagger, totter, move up and down, bob up and down, pass and repass, ebb and flow, come and go, vacillate, teeter, brandish, shake, flourish.

Roll

VB roll, drum, rumble, rattle, clatter, patter, clack, bombinate, hum, trill, shake, chime, peal, toll, tick, beat, drum in the ear, din in the ear.

Indication

N indication, symbolism, symbolization, semiology, semiotics, semeiology, semeiotics, Zeitgeist, characteristic, diagnostic, lineament, feature, trait, fingerprint, voiceprint, footprint, noseprint, cloven hoof, footfall, recognition (memory), diagnostic, divining rod, detector, sign, symbol, index, indice, indicator, point, pointer, exponent, note, token, symptom, dollar sign, dollar mark, type, figure, emblem, cipher, device, representation, epigraph, motto, posy, gesture, gesticulation, pantomime, wink, glance, leer, nod, shrug, beck, touch, nudge, dactylology, dactylonomy, freemasonry, telegraphy, chirology, byplay, dumb show, cue, hint, clue, clew, key, scent, signal, signal post, rocket, blue light, watch fire, watch tower, telegraph, semaphore, flagstaff, cresset, fiery cross, calumet, heliograph, guidon, headlight, mark, scratch, line, stroke, dash, score, stripe, streak, tick, dot, point, notch, nick, print, imprint, impress, impression, keyboard symbols, printing symbols, red letter, italics, sublineation, underlining, bold font, jotting, note, annotation, reference, blaze, cedilla, guillemets, hachure, quotation marks, ", double quotes, " ", parentheses, "( )", brackets, "", braces, "", left arrow, "<", right arrow, ">", forward slash, "/", backward slash, "\", exclamation point, "!", commercial at, "@", pound sign, "#", percent sign, "%", carat, "", ampersand, "&", asterisk, "*", hyphen, "-", dash, "-", "_", em dash, "--", plus sign, "+", equals sign, "=", question mark, "?", period, ", ", semicolon, ", ", colon, ":", comma, ", ", apostrophe, "'", single quote, "'", tilde, "~", badge, criterion, countercheck, countermark, countersign, counterfoil, duplicate, tally, label, ticket, billet, letter, counter, check, chip, chop, dib, totem, tessera, card, bill, witness, voucher, stamp, cacher, trade mark, Hall mark, signature, mark, autograph, autography, attestation, hand, hand writing, sign manual, cipher, seal, sigil, signet, hand and seal, paraph, brand, superscription, indorsement, endorsement, password, watchword, catchword, security card, pass, passkey, credentials, open sesame, timbrology, mot de passe, mot du guet, pass-parole, shibboleth, title, heading, docket, address card, visiting card, carte de visite, insignia, banner, banneret, bannerol, bandrol, flag, colors, streamer, standard, eagle, labarum, oriflamb, oriflamme, figurehead, ensign, pennon, pennant, pendant, burgee, blue Peter, jack, ancient, gonfalon, union jack, banderole, old glory, quarantine flag, vexillum, yellow-flag, yellow jack, tricolor, stars and stripes, bunting, heraldry, crest, coat of arms, arms, armorial bearings, hatchment, escutcheon, scutcheon, shield, supporters, livery, uniform, cockade, epaulet, chevron, garland, love knot, favor, beacon, cairn, post, staff, flagstaff, hand, pointer, vane, cock, weathercock, guidepost, handpost, fingerpost, directing post, signpost, pillars of Hercules, pharos, bale-fire, beacon-fire, l'etoile du Nord, landmark, seamark, lighthouse, balize, polestar, loadstar, lodestar, cynosure, guide, address, direction, name, sign, signboard, warning, omen, prefigurement, trace, record, warning &c, alarm, scepter, trophy, gauge, milestone, milepost, brand, fool's cap, check, telltale, test, mileage ticket, milliary, notification, advertisement, word of command, call, bugle call, trumpet call, bell, alarum, cry, battle cry, rallying cry, angelus, reveille, sacring bell, sanctus bell, exposition &c (explanation), proof, pattern, indicating, indicative, indicatory, denotative, connotative, diacritical, representative, typical, symbolic, pantomimic, pathognomonic, symptomatic, characteristic, demonstrative, diagnostic, exponential, emblematic, armorial, individual, known by, recognizable by, indicated, pointed, marked, denotable, indelible, in token of, symbolically, in dumb show, ecce signum, ex ungue leonem, ex pede Herculem, vide ut supra, vultus ariete fortior.