LICK • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Lick

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/lɪk/ Listen

verb

Lick v. t. (past & past part. licked; pres. part. licking)

1.

To draw or pass the tongue over; as, a dog licks his master's hand.

2.

To lap; to take in with the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks milk.

To lick the dust, to be slain; to fall in battle. "His enemies shall lick the dust."

To lick into shape, to give proper form to; from a notion that the bear's cubs are born shapeless and subsequently formed by licking.

To lick the spittle of, to fawn upon.

To lick up, to take all of by licking; to devour; to consume entirely.

Lick v. t. To strike with repeated blows for punishment; to flog; to whip or conquer, as in a pugilistic encounter. (Colloq. or Low)

noun

Lick n.

1.

A stroke of the tongue in licking. "A lick at the honey pot."

2.

A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue, or of something which acts like a tongue; as, to put on colors with a lick of the brush. Also, a small quantity of any substance so applied. (Colloq.) "A lick of court whitewash."

3.

A place where salt is found on the surface of the earth, to which wild animals resort to lick it up; often, but not always, near salt springs. Called also salt lick. (U. S.)

Lick n. A slap; a quick stroke. (Colloq.) "A lick across the face."

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Etymology of 'Lick'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Lick" Quotes from Famous Books

... givin' strength to my laigs, so dat in de hall I catch holt o' dat black gownd, an' hang on a-screechin' an' henderin' de debbil, so dat he hab to let go and drap de honey-chile on de flo'. But de owdacious vilyun clapped me a lick onter my haid, an' I seen so many stars as I fell ober Miss Dainty, dat he got away safe enough befo' yo' all come rushin' out from yo' rooms—umme!" concluded mammy, groaning, for her old gray head ached with the force of the blow she had received in her ...

— Dainty's Cruel Rivals - The Fatal Birthday • Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller

... life itself. There's no substitute. Vitiate the air by removing even 10 per cent. of it, and the world will lick our boots for a chance to breathe! Everybody's got to have oxygen, all the way from kings and emperors down to the toiling cattle, the Henry Dubbs, as I believe they're commonly called in vulgar speech. Shut off the air, and 'the captains ...

— The Air Trust • George Allan England

... came about that the McGillicuddys took care of Lawrence's boy, whose face grew round and rosy with the generous McGillicuddy fare. A part of Mrs. McGillicuddy's good will to him was that she instructed Ignatius and Aloysius McGillicuddy, both excellent fist fighters for their age, that they were to lick any boy, no matter what his age or size, who dared to taunt little Ronald about his father or anything else. These orders were extremely agreeable to the McGillicuddy boys, who loved fighting for fighting's sake, and who sought occasions to practise ...

— Betty at Fort Blizzard • Molly Elliot Seawell

... use to get it out; They trail one of their feet upon the ground, And gnaw the flesh about where the wound is, Till it be clean drawn out; and then, because Ulcers and sores kept foul are hardly cur'd, They lick and purify it with their tongue, And well observe Hippocrates' old rule, The only medicine for the foot is rest,— For if they have the least hurt in their feet They bear them up and look they be not stirr'd. When humours rise, they eat a sovereign herb, ...

— The Growth of English Drama • Arnold Wynne

... But that which is a source of irreparable shame to me is a virtue in the eyes of all these royalists. De Marmont's treachery against the Emperor has placed all his kindred in the forefront of those who now lick the boots of that infamous Bourbon dynasty, and it did not suit the plans of the Bonapartist party that we—in the provinces—should proclaim our faith too openly until such time as the ...

— The Bronze Eagle - A Story of the Hundred Days • Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy

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