tick

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈtik 

1

a

: a light rhythmic audible tap or beat

also : a series of such ticks

b

: the time taken by the tick of a clock : moment

2

: a small spot or mark

especially : one used to direct attention to something, to check an item on a list, or to represent a point on a scale

3

a

finance : the minimum amount by which the price of a security can move upward or downward

The minimum price fluctuation is called a "tick."

—Gerald Warfield

also : a stock market transaction at a price above or below the last previous transaction in the same security or the change in price that such a transaction represents

an upward/downward tick

The telegraph, and then the stock ticker, provided a number of advantages … . The ticker was named for its characteristic sound when printing; to this day, any movement of a stock's price is called a "tick."

—Joe Janes

Note that I assume none of you plan to spend your golden years watching the market tick by tick and jumping in and out of stocks.

—Barry Ritholtz

b

: a small amount

… Wednesday's fifth episode drew 12.3 same-day million viewers, up a tick from the previous week's 12.2 million.

—Gary Levin

see also downtick, uptick

tick

2 of 5

verb

ticked; ticking; ticks

intransitive verb

1

: to make the sound of a tick or a series of ticks

2

: to operate as a functioning mechanism : run

tried to understand what made him tick

the motor was ticking over quietly

transitive verb

1

: to mark with a written tick : check

—usually used with off

ticked off each item in the list

2

: to mark, count, or announce by or as if by ticking beats

a meter ticking off the cab fare

3

: to touch with a momentary glancing blow

ticked the ball

tick

3 of 5

noun (2)

1

: any of a superfamily (Ixodoidea) of bloodsucking acarid arachnids that are larger than the related mites, attach themselves to warm-blooded vertebrates to feed, and include important vectors of infectious diseases

2

: any of various usually wingless parasitic dipteran flies compare sheep ked

Illustration of tick

• tick 1

tick

4 of 5

noun (3)

1

: the fabric case of a mattress, pillow, or bolster

also : a mattress consisting of a tick and its filling

2

: ticking entry 1

tick

5 of 5

noun (4)

chiefly British

: credit, trust

also : a credit account

Synonyms

Verb

• detail
• enumerate
• itemize
• list
• numerate
• recite
• reel off
• rehearse

Examples of tick in a Sentence

Verb

I could hear the clock tick.

His old heart is still ticking.

Tick the box next to your choice.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Barbour Opal belted trench coat No capsule wardrobe is complete without the perfect trench, and this belted one from Barbour ticks all of the boxes. —Porter Simmons, Vogue, 24 Nov. 2023

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a disease spread by ticks to humans and dogs. —City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2023

The Powassan virus is spread to people by the bite of an infected tick, and although still rare, reported cases of people sick with the virus have increased in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. —Amy Simonson, CNN, 9 Oct. 2023

But in more recent years, researchers have analyzed ticks kept in natural history collections dating back to previous centuries, revealing the presence of the bacteria in the Northeast. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 6 Oct. 2023

DeVonta Smith was just a tick shy under 100 yards himself, finishing with seven catches for 99 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a 31-24 lead in the fourth quarter. —Scott Thompson, Fox News, 29 Oct. 2023

With each second that ticks by, my chance to understand the mind and digestive patterns of Taylor Swift slips further away. —Vulture, 26 Oct. 2023

In this image, the creature—which is more closely related to spiders and ticks than to crabs—moves across the mud, trailed by three juvenile golden trevally fish in search of food that might be revealed by the horseshoe crab’s motion. —Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Oct. 2023

The more the clock ticks, the more urgent are the pleas from the hostages’ families and their allies that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet prioritize the hostages’ safe return. —Steve Coll, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023

Verb

As the clock ticked down to 4 p.m., the time set for the hostages’ release, doctors and social workers carried out preparations to receive the hostages at six medical centers across Israel. —Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2023

Film shoots On-location shooting days ticked up last week, according to FilmLA data. —Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2023

David Molitor, an associate professor of finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues have found that the number of suicides ticks up in rural U.S. counties (though not urban ones) on smoky days. —Jesse Greenspan, Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2023

Subscribers are given a closer look at what makes the former Harper’s Bazaar editor tick. —Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 15 Nov. 2023

Treasury yields ticked higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell turned a little more hawkish in his latest comments on interest-rate policy and the economy. —Sam Goldfarb, WSJ, 9 Nov. 2023

While empathetic, some studio sources felt the clock ticking. —Katie Kilkenny, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Nov. 2023

The dessert and digestif tops off the savory feast and keeps the party ticking further into the night. —Nicola Blaque, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2023

But none of that is enough, practically speaking, because of one enormous hitch: The world is still using more energy each year, our consumption ticking ever upward, swallowing any gains made by renewable energy. —Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English tek pat, light stroke; akin to Middle High German zic light push

Noun (2)

Middle English tyke, teke; akin to Middle High German zeche tick, Armenian tiz

Noun (3)

Middle English tike, probably from Middle Dutch (akin to Old High German ziahha tick), from Latin theca cover, from Greek thēkē case; akin to Greek tithenai to place — more at do

Noun (4)

short for ticket entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1680, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1721, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (3)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (4)

1642, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tick

• brown dog tick
• black-legged tick
• American dog tick
• lone star tick
• deer tick
• dog tick
• tick-borne
• tick fever
• tick off
• tick over
• tick-tack-toe
• tick trefoil
• tick away/by/past
• what makes (someone) tick
• cattle tick
• on tick
• seed tick
• wood tick

See More

• brown dog tick
• black-legged tick
• American dog tick
• lone star tick
• deer tick
• dog tick
• tick-borne
• tick fever
• tick off
• tick over
• tick-tack-toe
• tick trefoil
• tick away/by/past
• what makes (someone) tick
• cattle tick
• on tick
• seed tick
• wood tick

See More

Kids Definition

tick

1 of 5 noun

ˈtik 

: any of numerous bloodsucking invertebrates that are arachnids larger than the related mites, attach themselves to warm-blooded animals to feed, and include important carriers of infectious diseases

tick

2 of 5 noun

1

: the fabric case of a mattress, pillow, or cushion

2

: ticking

tick

3 of 5 noun

1

: a light rhythmic tap or beat

the tick of a clock

2

: a small mark used to direct attention to something or to check an item on a list

tick

4 of 5 verb

1

a

: to make the sound of a tick or a series of ticks

b

: to mark, count, or announce by or as if by ticking beats

2

: to work at a regular or proper pace : run

3

: to mark with a written tick : check

tick

5 of 5 noun

: credit entry 1 sense 3a, trust

bought on tick

Etymology

Noun

Middle English tyke, teke "tick"

Noun

Middle English tike "a fabric case for a mattress"; probably of Dutch origin

Noun

Middle English tek "a rhythmic tap or beat"

Noun

a shortened form of ticket "a slip recording a business deal"

Medical Definition

tick

noun

ˈtik 

1

: any of numerous bloodsucking arachnids that constitute the acarine superfamily Ixodoidea, are much larger than the closely related mites, attach themselves to warm-blooded vertebrates to feed, include important vectors of various infectious diseases of humans and lower animals, and although the immature larva has but six legs, may be readily distinguished from an insect by the complete lack of external segmentation

2

: any of various usually wingless parasitic dipteran flies (as the sheep ked)