tick: Meaning and Definition of

tick

Pronunciation: (tik), [key]
— n.
  1. a slight, sharp, recurring click, tap, or beat, as of a clock.
  2. a moment or instant.
  3. a small dot, mark, check, or electronic signal, as used to mark off an item on a list, serve as a reminder, or call attention to something.
    1. a movement in the price of a stock, bond, or option.
    2. the smallest possible tick on a given exchange.
  4. a jumping fault consisting of a light touch of a fence with one or more feet.
  5. a small contrasting spot of color on the coat of a mammal or the feathers of a bird.
—v.i.
  1. to emit or produce a tick, like that of a clock.
  2. to pass as with ticks of a clock: The hours ticked by.
—v.t.
  1. to sound or announce by a tick or ticks: The clock ticked the minutes.
  2. to mark with a tick or ticks; check (usually fol. by off&hasp;); to tick off the items on the memo.
  3. His mistreatment of the animals really ticked me off.
    1. to make angry:His mistreatment of the animals really ticked me off.
    2. Chiefly Brit.to scold severely:The manager will tick you off if you make another mistake.
  4. the motive or explanation of one's behavior: The biographer failed to show what made Herbert Hoover tick.

tick

Pronunciation: (tik), [key]
— n.
  1. any of numerous bloodsucking arachnids of the order Acarina, including the families Ixodidae and Argasidae, somewhat larger than the related mites and having a barbed proboscis for attachment to the skin of warm-blooded vertebrates: some ticks are vectors of disease.
  2. See

tick

Pronunciation: (tik), [key]
— n.
  1. the cloth case of a mattress, pillow, etc., containing hair, feathers, or the like.
  2. ticking. Also called

tick

Pronunciation: (tik), [key]
— n. Chiefly Brit. Informal.
  1. a score or account.
  2. on credit or trust: We bought our telly on tick.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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