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Glite Dictionary
to take a good lick

to take a good lick

8.7
To put your tongue on food like ice cream to taste it a lot
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : dar un buen lametón
  • She loves to take a good lick of her ice cream cone.

Examples

  • After scoring the winning goal, she took a good lick of her celebratory ice cream.

  • The child took a good lick of his ice cream cone before it melted in the sun.

  • He took a good lick at the lollipop before handing it back to his friend.

  • The puppy eagerly took a good lick at the peanut butter on my hand.

  • After dinner, he took a good lick of the chocolate cake.

  • He took a good lick at the popsicle, enjoying the sweet taste on a hot day.

  • She took a good lick of the frosting on her cupcake and smiled with delight.

Synonyms

to lick
vsto take a good lick
310 1.0

To pass the tongue over something to taste or clean it

is a longer, larger mouth taste done by sustained tongue action
to take a bite
vsto take a good lick
49 1.4

To eat a small piece of food or reduce something a little

is a larger, sustained mouth taste rather than a small bitten piece

Antonyms

to refuse
716 1.7

To say no to a request or offer

How Big

mouthful
59 1.6
to take a good lick
  • Informal
8.7
lick
22 1.0

Surface Forms

take a good lick infinitive
taking a good lick present participle
takes a good lick third person singular
took a good lick past
taken a good lick past participle

Morphology

take + a + good + lick

The meaning 'to take a large taste by licking' is directly and compositionally derived from 'take' (consume/use), 'good' (considerable/substantial) and 'lick' (a touch with the tongue). This straightforward noun phrase construction follows normal English semantics, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Take a good lick comes from the simple picture of someone putting their tongue to food and taking a big taste, because lick literally means a taste with the tongue. So, to take a good lick means 'to take a large taste or bite'.