tic

noun

\ ˈtik

Definition of tic

1 : local and habitual spasmodic motion of particular muscles especially of the face : twitching

2 : a frequent usually unconscious quirk of behavior or speech "you know" is a verbal tic

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about tic

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Examples of tic in a Sentence

The verbal tic “you know” often occurs in her speech. constantly playing with her hair is one of her more annoying tics

Recent Examples on the Web

The great Italian Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci may have suffered from an unusual visual tic: an intermittent outward turn of the eye, clinically known as strabismus. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Da Vinci’s possible vision disorder may have influenced his art," 18 Oct. 2018 Many of Courtney 's videos include small verbal tics. — Seventeen, "Beauty Vlogger Courtney Elizabeth Warner Shared a Video of Her Open Brain Surgery," 11 July 2017 Previous SlideNext Slide To create their game of tic-tac-toe, Qian et al. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Caltech scientists use DNA tiles to play tic-tac-toe at the nanoscale," 29 Dec. 2018 Hardy’s Brock is composed of weird facial tics, squeaky vocal inflections, and hunched body language. — Bryan Bishop, The Verge, "Venom is a bizarre and baffling mess," 3 Oct. 2018 Again and again, they are told that vocal qualities and tics like higher pitch, upspeak, and vocal fry — which are usually associated with women — are worthy of condescension and invalidating to the speaker. — Laura Hudson, The Verge, "Star Wars voice actress mocks Christine Blasey Ford’s voice during Kavanaugh testimony," 27 Sep. 2018 The two women watch a television news report about a group of 18 girls in the same LeRoy where Jell-O had been founded who fell victim in 2011 to debilitating tics and twitches. — Moira Hodgson, WSJ, "‘Jell-O Girls’ Review: They Broke the Mold," 13 Sep. 2018 Not only did that not work to quell the chatter, but the language of the tweet — which mirrored President Trump's rhetorical tics — kicked off a new round of speculation about whether it had been written by her husband or someone who writes for him. — Jonathan Allen /, NBC News, "Why Melania Trump's vanishing act matters," 4 June 2018 Stories of actors with preening egos, bad tempers, or eccentric performance tics are part of many a Hollywood legend. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Jason Bateman’s Tired Defense of Jeffrey Tambor," 24 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.