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tick2

Pronunciation: /tɪk/

Translate tick | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of tick

noun

  • 1a parasitic arachnid which attaches itself to the skin of a terrestrial vertebrate from which it sucks blood, leaving the host when sated. Some species transmit diseases, including tularaemia and Lyme disease.
    • Suborder Ixodida, order Acari (or order and subclass)
  • informal a parasitic louse fly, especially the sheep ked.
  • 2British informal a worthless or contemptible person: he was shown up in court for the little tick that he was

Phrases

full (or tight) as a tick

informal replete after eating (or very drunk): I’ve never risen from the table after a feed anything less than full as a tick

Origin:

Old English ticia, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch teek and German Zecke

tick in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of tick in the US English dictionary

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