WICK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wick mean? 

• WICK (noun)
  The noun WICK has 2 senses:

1. any piece of cord that conveys liquid by capillary action

2. a loosely woven cord (in a candle or oil lamp) that draws fuel by capillary action up into the flame

  Familiarity information: WICK used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WICK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any piece of cord that conveys liquid by capillary action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the physician put a wick in the wound to drain it

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

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A loosely woven cord (in a candle or oil lamp) that draws fuel by capillary action up into the flame

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

taper; wick

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

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

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

candlewick (the wick of a candle)

Holonyms ("wick" is a part of...):

candle; taper; wax light (stick of wax with a wick in the middle)

kerosene lamp; kerosine lamp; oil lamp (a lamp that burns oil (as kerosine) for light)

 Context examples 

A crazy old staircase I found it to be, feebly lighted on each landing by a club-headed little oil wick, dying away in a little dungeon of dirty glass.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Here the socket of the candle dropped, and the wick went out.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was done completely; not a remnant of light in the wick could give hope to the rekindling breath.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Following the housewarming, which was accomplished by means of seal-oil and a wick made from cotton calking, came the hunting for our winter’s meat and the building of the second hut.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)