tick
69
2.0
- noun
- /tɪk/
- The first sign I noticed was the random tick-ticking from the air ducts in the commons.
- tick of the clock
Examples
-
Yeah, New York is noisy, but nothing is worse than the consistent tick of a clock.
-
The only other sound was the tick-tock of the cooling engine.
Fiction book (2001) -
From down the hall came the slow, heavy tick of the big clock.
Fiction book (1990) -
Behind him, every second of his slow days tick-tocked past on the heavy German clock.
Fiction book (1993) -
Fresh snow was falling, making little ticks on the kitchen window.
Fiction book (2002) -
There were a couple of footsteps in the kitchen, then nothing, just the quick tick-tick of Becky's watch.
Fiction book (2001) -
The grandfather clock facing Delia ticked so slowly that it seemed each tick might be its last.
Fiction book (1995) -
Early afternoon, Sara Margaret napping, loud tick of the Regulator clock from the kitchen, and no other sound.
Fiction book (1993) -
Hey... you'll be sitting here and you'll be listening to the tick, tick, tick, tock, tock, tock... of all these clocks.
-
In the silence of the room, the only sound was the faint tick of the old clock on the wall.
Synonyms
32
3.3
The regular sound a clock makes as time passes
15
1.2
A light regular tapping sound made by a clock or watch
9
5.9
A steady ticking sound like the one a clock makes
1
9.3
A steady ticking sound that a clock makes
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
2
6.0
A small blood-sucking bug that bites animals and people and can carry Lyme disease
1
1.6
A game for two players who take turns marking a three by three grid to make three in a row
1
6.1
A small tick found in eastern North America that bites people and can give them Lyme disease
1
7.0
A common tick in North America that can spread diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Specialized
1
7.0
A tick in the western United States that bites people and spreads Lyme disease
- Specialized
1
9.9
A plant with three small leaves and sticky pods that cling to clothes or animals
- Specialized
A tick with a hard shield on its back and mouth parts that stick out from its head
- Archaic
A disease caused by tiny germs that spreads to people from reddish-brown ticks on dogs and other animals
- UK
A small parasite that sticks to sheep and other animals and can spread disease to animals and people
- Specialized
A small blood-sucking animal without a hard shell on its back that bites animals and birds
How Loud
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tick comes from the small, sharp sound it makes — like the 'tick' in tick-tock — so a short metallic tapping noise is called a 'tick'.