Definition of "tick" in English

noun

1. A tiny woodland arachnid of the suborder Ixodida.

noun

1. A relatively quiet but sharp sound generally made repeatedly by moving machinery.

   • The steady tick of the clock provided a comforting background for the conversation.

2. A mark on any scale of measurement; a unit of measurement.

   • At midday, the long bond is up a tick.

3. (computing) A jiffy (unit of time defined by basic timer frequency).

4. (colloquial) A short period of time, particularly a second.

   • I'll be back in a tick.

5. (video games) A periodic increment of damage or healing caused by an ongoing status effect.

6. (gaming) Each of the fixed time periods, in a tick-based game, in which players or characters may perform a set number of actions.

7. (Australia, New Zealand, British, Ireland) A mark (✓) made to indicate agreement, correctness or acknowledgement.

   • Indicate that you are willing to receive marketing material by putting a tick in the box

8. (birdwatching) A bird seen (or heard) by a birdwatcher, for the first time that day, year, trip, etc., and thus added to a list of observed birds.

9. (ornithology) A whinchat (Saxicola rubetra).

10. A tap or light touch.

11. A slight speck.

verb

1. To make a clicking noise similar to the movement of the hands of an analog clock.

2. To make a tick or checkmark.

3. (informal, intransitive) To work or operate, especially mechanically.

   • He took the computer apart to see how it ticked.
   • I wonder what makes her tick.

4. To strike gently; to pat.

5. (birdwatching, transitive) To add (a bird) to a list of birds that have been seen (or heard).

noun

1. (uncountable) Ticking.

2. A sheet that wraps around a mattress; the cover of a mattress, containing the filling.

noun

1. (UK, colloquial) Credit, trust.

verb

1. (intransitive) To go on trust, or credit.

2. (transitive) To give tick; to trust.

noun

1. (obsolete, place names) A goat.