tick
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɪk/
rhymes: -ɪk
homophone: tic
Forms: form: ticks
Etymology: From Middle English *tik, tek, tyche (“light touch, tap”), from the verb (see Etymology 3 below). Compare Dutch tik (“a pat, tap”), Middle High German zic (“a slight touch”).
Senses: examples: text: The steady tick of the clock provided a comforting background for the conversation.
glosses: A relatively quiet but sharp sound generally made repeatedly by moving machinery.
examples: text: At midday, the long bond is up a tick.
glosses: A mark on any scale of measurement; a unit of measurement.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A jiffy (unit of time defined by basic timer frequency).
examples: text: I'll be back in a tick.
synonyms: word: jiffy
word: sec
word: tic
word: bat of an eye
word: bit
word: blink of an eye
word: crack
word: eyeblink
word: flash
word: glimpse
word: half a mo
word: instant
word: jiff
word: jiffy
word: jot
word: minute
word: mo
word: moment
word: New York minute
word: New York second
word: no time
word: sec
word: second
word: span
word: split-second
word: spurt
word: stound
word: tick
word: trice
word: twink
word: twinkle
word: twinkling
word: while
glosses: A short period of time, particularly a second.
topics: video-games
glosses: A periodic increment of damage or healing caused by an ongoing status effect.
topics: games
gaming
glosses: Each of the fixed time periods, in a tick-based game, in which players or characters may perform a set number of actions.
examples: text: Indicate that you are willing to receive marketing material by putting a tick in the box
text: Kate's choice to don her pink suit again now, at the height of the Barbiecore trend, shows the royal really does have her finger on the pulse. That, paired with her statement belt and the fact pearls are having a real fashion moment (courtesy of the Met Gala) is three big ticks from us.
ref: 2023 May 26, Natasha Harding, Alexandria Dale, “Kate Middleton just re-wore her Alexander McQueen baby pink trouser suit”, in Women's Health:
synonyms: checkmark
glosses: A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement.
examples: text: There are few birders who have not had stringy ticks on their lists at some stage.
ref: 1980, Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, page 76:
text: A twitcher's list is very democratic. Each bird counts as one tick. There are no extra points for beauty or rarity. The humble sparrow counts just as much as a Wedge-tailed Eagle or a Paradise Parrot.
ref: 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 41:
topics: biology
birdwatching
natural-sciences
ornithology
glosses: A bird seen (or heard) by a birdwatcher, for the first time that day, year, trip, etc., and thus added to a list of observed birds.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
ornithology
glosses: A whinchat (Saxicola rubetra).
glosses: A tap or light touch.
glosses: A slight speck.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: armchair tick
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: birdcatcher tick
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: blue tick
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: downtick
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: foul tick
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: tick-based
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: tick box
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: ticker
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: ticking
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: tick mark
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: tick-tack
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: ticktacktoe
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: tic-tac-toe
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: tick-tock
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: to a tick
sense: Terms derived from tick (noun)
word: uptick