Tick (Verb)
Meaning 1
Make a clicking or ticking sound; "The clock ticked away".
Classification
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling.
Examples
- The grandfather clock ticked away in the corner of the room, marking the passage of time.
- The woman's heels ticked against the marble floor as she walked.
- The faucet ticked quietly in the background as the dentist examined the patient's teeth.
- The cooling engine ticked and clunked as it slowly came to a stop.
- The old engine ticked over impatiently, waiting for the driver to hit the gas.
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Meaning 2
Make a sound like a clock or a timer; "the clocks were ticking"; "the grandfather clock beat midnight".
Classification
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling.
Examples
- The kitchen timer ticked loudly as the minutes passed by.
- In the background, the old clock ticked steadily, its rhythmic beat soothing the waiting room.
- Time seemed to stand still as the stopwatch ticked down to the final seconds.
- The antique grandfather clock in the hallway ticked quietly through the night.
- The countdown timer ticked down with increasing urgency as the deadline approached.
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Meaning 3
Put a check mark on or near or next to; "Please check each name on the list"; "tick off the items"; "mark off the units".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- Tick the boxes corresponding to your preferred colors.
- Please tick each item you wish to purchase on the order form.
- Tick the option that best describes your current employment status.
- Tick off the books you've already read from the list.
- The teacher asked the students to tick the correct answers on their test sheets.
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Meaning 4
Sew; "tick a mattress".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- To renovate the old bed, someone needs to tick its creaky mattress and re-stuff it with new padding material.
- The skilled seamstress was assigned to tick the new mattress before proceeding to create its cover.
- Restoring the antique bed required ticking the worn-out mattress with fresh layers of cotton and thread.
- A local upholsterer specialises in sewing by ticking mattresses and repairing torn or damaged covers to extend the lifespan of a bed.
- Ticking and restuffing a vintage mattress can cost triple the amount of replacing its worn-out cover only.