tick

To tick is to make a steady tapping sound. When something ticks — be it a clock, a watch, an oven timer, or a metronome — it’s usually a reminder that time is passing.

The verb tick originally meant "to touch or pat." The current meaning may be related to the sound of a hand patting or tapping a surface. Another kind of tick is a small blood-sucking parasite. This nastier tick has a different root, the Old English ticia.

Primary Meanings of tick

1.
 nv
a metallic tapping sound
make a clicking or ticking sound
2.
 nv
a mark indicating that something has been noted or completed etc.
put a check mark on or near or next to
3.
 nv
a light mattress
sew
4.
 n
any of two families of small parasitic arachnids with barbed proboscis; feed on blood of warm-blooded animals
Full Definitions of tick
1

n a metallic tapping sound

“he counted the ticks of the clock”
Synonyms:
ticking
Types:
ticktock, tictac, tocktact
steady recurrent ticking sound as made by a clock
Type of:
sound
the sudden occurrence of an audible event

v make a clicking or ticking sound

“The clock ticked away”
Synonyms:
click
Type of:
go, sound
make a certain noise or sound

v make a sound like a clock or a timer

“the clocks were ticking”
Synonyms:
beat, ticktack, ticktock
Type of:
go, sound
make a certain noise or sound
2

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

Synonyms:
check, check mark
Type of:
mark
a written or printed symbol (as for punctuation)

v put a check mark on or near or next to

“tick off the items”
Synonyms:
check, check off, mark, mark off, tick off
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
Types:
receipt
mark or stamp as paid
Type of:
verify
confirm the truth of
3

n a light mattress

Type of:
mattress
a large thick pad filled with resilient material and often incorporating coiled springs, used as a bed or part of a bed

v sew

“tick a mattress”
Synonyms:
retick
Type of:
run up, sew, sew together, stitch
fasten by sewing; do needlework
4

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

Types:
show 11 types...
hide 11 types...
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
Ixodes dammini, deer tick
a northeastern tick now recognized as same species as Ixodes scapularis
Ixodes neotomae
a tick that usually does not bite humans; transmits Lyme disease spirochete to dusky-footed wood rats
Ixodes pacificus, western black-legged tick
a tick that feeds on dusky-footed wood rat and bites humans; principal vector for Lyme disease in western United States especially northern California
Ixodes scapularis, black-legged tick
parasitic on mice of genus Peromyscus and bites humans; principal vector for Lyme disease in eastern United States (especially New England); northern form was for a time known as Ixodes dammini (deer tick)
Ixodes ricinus, sheep tick, sheep-tick
parasitic on sheep and cattle as well as humans; can transmit looping ill in sheep (acute viral disease of the nervous system); a vector for Lyme disease spirochete
Ixodes persulcatus
bites humans; a vector for Lyme disease spirochete
Ixodes dentatus
usually does not bite humans; transmits Lyme disease spirochete to cottontail rabbits and wood rats
Ixodes spinipalpis
usually does not bite humans; transmits Lyme disease spirochete to cottontail rabbits and wood rats
American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, wood tick
common tick that can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia
Type of:
acarine
mite or tick

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