Word: lick Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; not paralleled in any other Germanic language. Cognates Cognate with Dutch lekken, likken (“to lick”), German lecken (“to lick”), Vilamovian łaekia, łakia, łȧḱkja (“to lick”), Yiddish לעקן (lekn, “to lick”), French lécher (“to lick”), Friulian lecâ (“to lick”), Italian leccare (“to lick”), Lombard leccà (“to lick”), Norman litchi (“to lick”), Occitan lecar (“to lick”); also Faroese and Icelandic sleikja (“to lick”), Breton leat (“to lick”), Irish and Scottish Gaelic ligh (“to lick”), Welsh llyfu (“to lick”), Latin lingō (“to lick”), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick up”), Latvian làizît (“to lick”), Lithuanian laižyti (“to lick”), Bulgarian ли́жа (líža, “to lick”), Czech lízat (“to lick”), Macedonian лиже (liže, “to lick”), Polish lizać (“to lick”), Russian лиза́ть (lizátʹ, “to lick”), Serbo-Croatian ли́зати, lízati (“to lick”), Slovene lizati (“to lick”), Ukrainian лиза́ти (lyzáty, “to lick”), Armenian լիզել (lizel, “to lick”), Central Kurdish لستن (listin, “to lick”), Northern Kurdish alastin, alêstin, alistin, alîstin (“to lick”), Persian لیسیدن (lēsīdan / lisidan, “to lick”), Sanskrit लिह् (lih), रिह् (rih, “to lick; to eat”). Pronunciation: /lɪk/ 1. The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue. Example: The cat gave its fur a lick. 2. The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick. Example: Give me a lick of ice cream. 3. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue. Example: a lick of paint Example: to put on colours with a lick of the brush 4. A place where animals lick minerals from the ground. Example: The birds gathered at the clay lick. 5. A small watercourse or ephemeral stream. It ranks between a rill and a stream. Example: We used to play in the lick. 6. A stroke or blow. Labels: colloquial Example: Hit that wedge a good lick with the sledgehammer. Example: I went in big licks, and, although it was a good-sized pile, I chopped it all up before he got back at night. 7. A small amount; a whit. Labels: colloquial Example: You don't have a lick of sense. Example: I didn't do a lick of work today. 8. An attempt at something. Labels: informal Example: Well, my album did well, but "Ruby" was a timely song and that wasn't the time for it to step out. […] Then Waylon Jennings took a lick at it on an album, and my old buddy Roger Miller covered it, too, in his album. And although they're outstanding artists, nothing much happened with the song. 9. A short motif. Example: There are some really good blues licks in this solo. 10. A rate of speed. (Always qualified by good, fair, or a similar adjective.) Labels: informal Example: The bus was travelling at a good lick when it swerved and left the road. Example: Dandy Marx, a perfect gentleman in the true sense of the word, now drives forth under single harness ; whereas “once upon a time,” he rushed over the ground at a “big lick,” reigning his four beautiful roans, and continually kicking up an extra excitement among the “fashionables.” 11. An act of cunnilingus. Labels: slang Example: You up for a lick tonight?