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
Relevance
2
as in splash
a very small amount
the soup needs just a lick more of salt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in damn
the smallest amount or part imaginable
you haven't done a lick of work all day
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in to hide
to strike repeatedly
your father will lick you good if he hears you using swear words
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of lick
Alice Vernon
september 8, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Drake’s attempt to get his lick back comes amid a year of Kendrick unequivocally ending the goofy Torontonian, only for the Compton rapper to repeatedly trample on his proverbial grave at his funeral, a victory lap frequently likened to that one elephant’s in India.
—Zoe Guy, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
Which is what guides her, and her two siblings, to storm the event and take its guests hostage — while Tyler is in the bathroom, licking his wounds after his mic drop moment goes horribly viral.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lick
Noun
The roads became thick with mud, the numbers in his Company were diminishing, and on a night in June the Company advanced to dig a further trench, only to retreat again immediately having not made a lick of progress—but not without suffering the fatality of his friend, Thomas.
—Alice Vernon
september 8, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Drake’s attempt to get his lick back comes amid a year of Kendrick unequivocally ending the goofy Torontonian, only for the Compton rapper to repeatedly trample on his proverbial grave at his funeral, a victory lap frequently likened to that one elephant’s in India.
—Zoe Guy, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
South Korean daily newspaper Hankyoreh reported that the detainees’ waists and hands were tied, which forced them to bend down and lick in order to drink water.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
Which is what guides her, and her two siblings, to storm the event and take its guests hostage — while Tyler is in the bathroom, licking his wounds after his mic drop moment goes horribly viral.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lick
Noun
-
Yes, the Seahawks entered the game short-handed in the secondary, then suffered another blow when cornerback Riq Woolen suffered a concussion in the third quarter.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Business is booming, but President Chris Kohnle worries the 80-year-old, family-run establishment could soon take a blow.—
Miranda Dunlap,
jsonline.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
From a bleak job hunt upon her arrival in 2016 to undergoing treatment for her second bout with breast cancer during the uncertainty and fear of COVID, Davis recalls her journey through raw vulnerability and splashes of humor.—
Essence,
Essence,
1 Oct. 2025
-
While the $20 endless shrimp deal made quite a splash with customers, the company suffered millions in operating losses.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Even for those in the North who didn’t care a damn for the four million held in brutal bondage, or those who wanted a soft, conciliatory approach, the war began to take on new and moral meaning.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
-
At the start, the project required building a damn to drain the water from the facade.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In addition to being faster and scalable, fiber doesn’t hide metals worth extracting and reselling.—
Rob Pegoraro,
PC Magazine,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Turns out, Kelce was hiding more than just nerves.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
No other team has been able to master it like the Eagles have been able to.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
-
From day one, new consultants rotate across industries, geographies, and functions, adapting on the fly and mastering unfamiliar businesses.—
Ruth Umoh,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
A couple of good back slaps and thumps from the adoring crowd.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Karl turned on the headlights and got the windshield wipers going at a mad slap.—
Ann Patchett,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
After all, that warped sitcom spoof has to be one of the most genuinely demented things to ever air, without a shred of warning and in the middle of the night, on cable TV.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The film’s devastating revelations of intimate betrayals dispel nostalgia and sentiment down to the last shreds.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The whit and the whoo are from different owls.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Sep. 2025
-
After 40 minutes, his energy hasn’t flagged a whit.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lick. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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