Library / English Dictionary

TICK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of two families of small parasitic arachnids with barbed proboscis; feed on blood of warm-blooded animals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("tick" is a kind of...):

acarine (mite or tick)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tick"):

hard tick; ixodid (ticks having a hard shield on the back and mouth parts that project from the head)

argasid; soft tick (tick lacking a dorsal shield and having mouth parts on the under side of the head)

Holonyms ("tick" is a member of...):

Acarina; order Acarina (mites and ticks)

Derivation:

tick (make a sound like a clock or a timer)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A light mattress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tick" is a kind of...):

mattress (a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed)

Derivation:

tick (sew)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A mark indicating that something has been noted or completed etc.

Example:

as he called the role he put a check mark by each student's name

Synonyms:

check; check mark; tick

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("tick" is a kind of...):

mark (a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A metallic tapping sound

Example:

he counted the ticks of the clock

Synonyms:

tick; ticking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("tick" is a kind of...):

sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tick"):

ticktock; tictac; tocktact (steady recurrent ticking sound as made by a clock)

Derivation:

tick (make a clicking or ticking sound)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put a check mark on or near or next to

Example:

mark off the units

Synonyms:

check; check off; mark; mark off; tick; tick off

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "tick" is one way to...):

verify (confirm the truth of)

Verb group:

check; check into; check out; check over; check up on; go over; look into; suss out (examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition)

ascertain; assure; check; control; ensure; insure; see; see to it (be careful or certain to do something; make certain of something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tick"):

receipt (mark or stamp as paid)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sew

Example:

tick a mattress

Synonyms:

retick; tick

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "tick" is one way to...):

run up; sew; sew together; stitch (fasten by sewing; do needlework)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tick (a light mattress)

ticking (a strong fabric used for mattress and pillow covers)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a sound like a clock or a timer

Example:

the grandfather clock beat midnight

Synonyms:

beat; tick; ticktack; ticktock

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "tick" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

tick (any of two families of small parasitic arachnids with barbed proboscis; feed on blood of warm-blooded animals)

ticker (a small portable timepiece)

ticking (a metallic tapping sound)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a clicking or ticking sound

Example:

The clock ticked away

Synonyms:

click; tick

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "tick" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

tick; ticking (a metallic tapping sound)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Tularemia is a life-threatening disease spread to humans via contact with an infected animal or through the bite of a mosquito, tick or deer fly.

(Natural lipid acts as potent anti-inflammatory, National Institutes of Health)

You may have observed that some of them were marked with ticks, and the others—the great majority—were not.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The color is liver and white, spotted, roan or ticked.

(German Wirehaired Pointer, NCI Thesaurus)

Any viral organism that can be assigned to the species Colorado tick fever virus.

(Colorado Tick Fever Virus, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Not a word was spoken when we first went in; and the Dutch clock by the dresser seemed, in the silence, to tick twice as loud as usual.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It is transmitted by ticks, flies and mosquitoes.

(Bartonella Infection, NCI Thesaurus)

Colorado tick fever viruses are found in adult wood ticks, humans and mammals, and cause Colorado tick fever in humans.

(Colorado Tick Fever Virus, NCI Thesaurus)

It grows faster when nutrient conditions are favorable, and when its internal clock ticks in favor of reproduction.

(Satellites Find Biggest Seaweed Bloom in the World, NASA)

There was an old clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise everything was deadly still.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The muzzle is long, but not pointed, and it has a short, dense coat that comes in solid liver or liver and white, patched, ticked or roan.

(German Shorthaired Pointer, NCI Thesaurus)