TICK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tick mean? 

• TICK (noun)
  The noun TICK has 4 senses:

1. a metallic tapping sound

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

3. a mark indicating that something has been noted or completed etc.

4. a light mattress

  Familiarity information: TICK used as a noun is uncommon.

• TICK (verb)
  The verb TICK has 4 senses:

1. make a clicking or ticking sound

2. make a sound like a clock or a timer

3. sew

4. put a check mark on or near or next to

  Familiarity information: TICK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TICK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A metallic tapping sound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

tick; ticking

Context example:

he counted the ticks of the clock

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)

Sense 2

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 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

check; check mark; tick

Context example:

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

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

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

Sense 4

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)

• TICK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tick    ... he / she / it ticks   
Past simple: ticked   
Past participle: ticked   
-ing form: ticking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a clicking or ticking sound

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

click; tick

Context example:

The clock ticked away

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a sound like a clock or a timer

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

beat; tick; ticktack; ticktock

Context example:

the grandfather clock beat midnight

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 3

Meaning:

Sew

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

retick; tick

Context example:

tick a mattress

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 4

Meaning:

Put a check mark on or near or next to

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

mark off the units

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

 Context examples 

They also found that a tick — the Lone Star tick — sensitizes people to this allergen when it bites them.

(Researchers have found a link between allergen in red meat and heart disease, National Institutes of Health)

It is transmitted by ticks and infects the red blood cells.

(Babesiosis, NCI Thesaurus)

They also noted that only certain types of salivary gland cells are infected, and they identified a specific tick gene that is involved in infection.

(Tick salivary glands can be a tool to study virus transmission and infection, National Institutes of Health)

Then Maud pressed and held the fingers about the pencil with her own hand and the hand wrote, in large letters, and so slowly that the minutes ticked off to each letter:

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

They note that the allergy, which is linked to a history of a specific type of tick bite, may be difficult for patients and health care teams to identify.

(NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy, National Institutes of Health)

I humoured him: the watch ticked on: he breathed fast and low: I stood silent.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"An enormous blood-tick, as yet, I believe, unclassified."

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Indeed, it seemed impossible for either of us to remain much longer in the house; the fall of coals in the kitchen grate, the very ticking of the clock, filled us with alarms.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

In Tourettes if we could reduce the excitability we might reduce the ticks and that's what we are working on.

(Why Is Yawning so Contagious?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Deer and deer mice carry ticks that cause Lyme disease.

(Animal Diseases and Your Health, NIH)