deer tick

noun

: an ixodid tick (Ixodes scapularis synonym I. dammini) of the eastern U.S. and Canada that transmits the bacterium causing Lyme disease

called also black-legged tick

Illustration of deer tick

Examples of deer tick in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The disease, caused by bacteria in deer ticks, can produce everything from flu-like symptoms to chronic fatigue and arthritis, if left untreated. — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

My tick was a few millimeters long and teardrop-shaped, with a brick-red abdomen surrounding the black shield on its back—hallmarks of an adult female deer tick. — Kate Wong, Scientific American, 22 June 2026

The tick testing program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is seeing a record-high number of tick submissions to its laboratory, with a higher-than-average infection rate of Lyme disease in black legged or deer ticks, the primary vector of the bacteria. — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 15 June 2026

They're commonly called a deer tick. — Jeff Wagner, CBS News, 9 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1982, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for deer tick

• broomstick
• dipstick
• homesick
• joystick
• lipstick
• nonstick
• pickwick
• picnic
• redbrick
• seasick
• sidekick
• slapstick

Kids Definition

deer tick

noun

: a tick that transmits the bacterium causing Lyme disease

Medical Definition

deer tick

noun

ˈdi(ə)r- 

: a tick of the genus Ixodes (I. scapularis synonym I. dammini) that transmits the bacterium causing Lyme disease