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
: 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
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
After a holding penalty set the Panthers back another 10 yards, Weaver found Trevi Preische on a 14-yard scoring pass on third-and-five, with 16 ticks left.—Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Oct. 2025 Priced at $14,800, the elegant watch has been given the tick of approval by A-listers, including Paul Mescal, Rami Malek, and Dwyane Wade.—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 18 Oct. 2025
Verb
Obesity kept ticking up, affecting about 36 percent of adults and nearly 17 percent of children in the United States by 2010.—Alice Callahan, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 The couple still have one 12-year-old son at home – one of their adult sons, a Coast Guard member stationed in Portsmouth, also was watching the days tick down to mid-month payday.—Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tick
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
: 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 5noun
1
: the fabric case of a mattress, pillow, or cushion
: 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)
Share