Synonyms of lick

lick 1 of 2

noun

1

as in blow

a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument

gave the ball a solid lick with the bat

Synonyms & Similar Words

• blow
• slap
• swipe
• thump
• hit
• knock
• stroke
• punch
• thud
• pound
• spank
• whack
• smack
• poke
• bang
• slam
• beat
• clap
• clip
• licking
• hook
• kick
• swat
• chop
• switch
• lash
• crack
• sock
• bat
• smash
• pick
• bop
• stripe
• slug
• pelt
• hack
• belt
• dab
• cuff
• plump
• welt
• box
• douse
• knee
• rap
• buffet
• biff
• wham
• bash
• thwack
• fillip
• stinger
• pounding
• bust
• clout
• wallop
• whap
• haymaker
• hand
• whop
• swing
• beating
• left
• larrup
• counter
• shiver
• right
• whip
• body blow
• counterblow
• sucker punch
• counterstroke
• hammering
• whipping
• roundhouse
• one-two
• thrashing
• KO
• uppercut
• rabbit punch
• battering
• pummeling
• counterpunch
• flogging
• knockdown
• knockout
• bastinado
• sidewinder
• drubbing
• pasting
• cruncher
• pummelling
• cudgelling
• clobbering
• bludgeoning
• cudgeling
• walloping
• kayo
• right-hander
• bastinade
• lambasting

2

as in splash

a very small amount

the soup needs just a lick more of salt

Synonyms & Similar Words

• splash
• shred
• touch
• sprinkling
• hint
• glimmer
• speck
• little
• bit
• trace
• dab
• tad
• smack
• spark
• smell
• bite
• particle
• handful
• spatter
• pinch
• ounce
• crumb
• streak
• nip
• peanuts
• sliver
• drop
• fleck
• ray
• spot
• dram
• scruple
• scintilla
• mite
• taste
• dash
• smidgeon
• shade
• minimum
• strain
• smidgin
• ace
• drop in the bucket
• snap
• suspicion
• smidgen
• smidge
• portion
• dose
• soupçon
• whit
• nibble
• grain
• shadow
• skosh
• driblet
• jot
• patch
• modicum
• syllable
• molecule
• dot
• semblance
• granule
• part
• mote
• morsel
• atom
• iota
• scrap
• fragment
• tittle
• vestige
• hoot
• minim
• section
• flake
• shiver
• scattering
• smattering
• splinter
• nubbin
• chip
• flyspeck
• shard
• shaving
• smatter
• clipping
• tatter
• smithereens
• paring
• shot

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• peck
• loads
• mess
• pile
• bucket
• deal
• mountain
• quantity
• plenty
• stack
• barrel
• wealth
• gobs
• abundance
• lot
• mass
• wad
• bushel
• heaps
• fistful
• bundle
• raft
• reams
• profusion
• volume
• oodles
• lashings
• boatload
• scads
• passel
• surplus
• excess
• potful
• much
• embarrassment
• lashins
• overflow
• slab
• surfeit
• superfluity
• superabundance
• lump
• bonanza
• chunk
• overabundance
• overkill
• overmuch
• oversupply
• hunk
• overage

3

as in damn

the smallest amount or part imaginable

you haven't done a lick of work all day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• damn
• whit
• hoot
• shred
• little
• fig
• bit
• jot
• touch
• whoop
• modicum
• syllable
• darn
• durn
• squat
• beans
• iota
• rap
• hint
• tittle
• continental
• ghost
• diddly
• bupkes
• doodly-squat
• ounce
• diddly-squat
• speck
• pin
• bubkes
• bupkus
• glimmer
• trace
• doodley-squat
• particle
• sprinkling
• nip
• dab
• streak
• peanuts
• crumb
• semblance
• scrap
• smidgen
• spot
• ray
• scruple
• mite
• smidgeon
• strain
• snap
• smidgin
• ace
• suspicion
• smidge
• shade
• skosh
• shadow
• driblet

lick

2 of 2

verb

ˈlik 

1

as in to hide

to strike repeatedly

your father will lick you good if he hears you using swear words

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hide
• pound
• whip
• lash
• slap
• beat
• do
• knock
• spank
• hit
• batter
• thump
• pelt
• punch
• smash
• attack
• bat
• slam
• assault
• maul
• chop
• pummel
• smack
• bludgeon
• curry
• punch out
• swipe
• thrash
• flog
• tan
• slate
• paddle
• bash
• hammer
• whup
• lather
• work over
• wound
• drub
• switch
• baste
• lambast
• box
• whop
• rough (up)
• raid
• club
• whack
• lace
• lambaste
• wallop
• whap
• beat up on
• buffet
• belabor
• thresh
• tromp
• belt
• birch
• whale
• crack
• fib
• swat
• mess (up)
• pommel
• slog
• storm
• bung up
• rush
• paste
• lay on
• descend (on or upon)
• jump (on)
• sock
• strap
• clobber
• thwack
• assail
• pounce (on or upon)
• leather
• whomp
• cane
• wham
• cuff
• clout
• cudgel
• flagellate
• horsewhip
• lacerate
• bust
• lam
• beset
• mutilate
• maim
• scourge
• gore
• rawhide
• mangle
• blackjack
• cowhide
• pistol-whip
• fustigate

2

as in to master

to achieve a victory over

he's determined to do everything he can to lick the cancer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• master
• defeat
• overcome
• take
• beat
• get
• stop
• worst
• conquer
• best
• dispatch
• subdue
• surmount
• trim
• win (against)
• get around
• get the better of
• upend
• bury
• skunk
• succeed
• prevail (over)
• overbear
• finish
• overmatch
• triumph (over)
• do down
• sweep
• whip
• crush
• overwhelm
• blow out
• slaughter
• cream
• knock for a loop
• better
• skin
• surpass
• flatten
• annihilate
• trounce
• thrash
• score
• exceed
• blow away
• clobber
• break
• bomb
• drub
• wax
• smoke
• edge (out)
• shellac
• upset
• pip
• excel
• top
• snow under
• cap
• nose out
• wallop
• flourish
• subjugate
• rout
• vanquish
• outdo
• overpower
• overthrow
• knock over
• transcend
• unseat
• outstrip
• outshine
• overtop
• outdistance
• knock off
• eclipse
• ace (out)
• outfight

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• lose (to)
• fall
• go down
• give up
• fail
• fold
• go under
• collapse
• wash out
• flunk
• flop

Examples of lick in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In the first season of Emily in Paris, the show’s plucky American heroine doesn’t speak a lick of French. —Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 21 Aug. 2024

To match it, the beat chugs like a train, while the musician unleashes some of the fastest licks of his career. —Jim Farber, EW.com, 23 July 2024

Verb

Whether Rowlands was a divorcée licking her wounds (1984’s Love Streams), or a woman getting involved with a married man (1968’s Faces, 1971’s Minnie and Moskowitz), the terrain of love was the rich wellspring for so many of her creative collaborations with Cassavetes. —Christina Newland, The Atlantic, 21 Aug. 2024

Institutional investors are now watching from the sidelines, licking their wounds. —Thomas Ricker, The Verge, 12 Sep. 2024