stick
/stɪk/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms sticks sticking sticked stuck sticker stickest sticke
- noun A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch. “The beaver's dam was made out of sticks.”
- noun A relatively long, thin piece of wood, of any size. “I found several good sticks in the brush heap.”
- noun (US) A timber board, especially a two by four (inches). “I found enough sticks in dumpsters at construction sites to build my shed.”
- noun A cane or walking stick (usually wooden, metal or plastic) to aid in walking. “I don’t need my stick to walk, but it’s helpful.”
- noun A cudgel or truncheon (usually of wood, metal or plastic), especially one carried by police or guards. “As soon as the fight started, the guards came in swinging their sticks.”
- noun (carpentry) The vertical member of a cope-and-stick joint.
- noun (nautical) A mast or part of a mast of a ship; also, a yard.
- noun (figuratively) A piece (of furniture, especially if wooden). “We were so poor we didn't have one stick of furniture.”
- verb (carpentry) To cut a piece of wood to be the stick member of a cope-and-stick joint.
- verb (transitive, printing, slang, dated) To compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick.
- verb (transitive) To furnish or set with sticks.
- verb To hit with a stick.
- noun (countable) A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab; an instance of sticking (pricking or piercing).
- noun (medicine, in particular) An instance of piercing someone with a needle, e.g. to draw blood or start an IV.
- noun (medicine, colloquial) A person whom one is piercing with a needle to draw blood or start an IV (especially in the context of how difficult or easy this is).
- noun (uncountable) The tendency to stick (remain stuck), stickiness.
- noun (motor racing) The traction of tires on the road surface.
- noun (uncountable) That which sticks (remains attached to another surface).
- noun (fishing) The amount of fishing line resting on the water surface before a cast; line stick.
- noun (informal, countable, rare) One who sticks at something; one who persists.
Synonyms
branch twig rice kindling brush two by four cane walking stick piece item joint reefer train stickshift gearstick licorice stick liquorice stick pin flagstick plant control stick joystick peg marijuana cigarette spliff lodge wedge deposit stay stick around
Etymology
From Middle English sticke, stik, stikke (“branch, twig; kindling; mast; pale; stick, stylus”), from Old English sticca (“stick; peg; beam, rod”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô (“pole, stick”), from *stikkōną (“to fix, stick”), from *stikaną (“to stick; to stab”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to sting”).
Cognate with Dutch stek (“home, spot; cutting, a leaf, stem, branch, or root removed from a plant and cultivated to grow a new plant”), German Stecken (“stick”), Vilamovian śtakia (“stick”); also Cornish wosa (“after”), Welsh wedi (“past (time); after”), Latin instigo (“to stimulate”), Ancient Greek στῐ́ζω (stĭ́zō, “to tattoo; to mark; to punctuate”), Central Kurdish تێژ (têj), تیژ (tîj, “sharp; hot, spicy”), Northern Kurdish tîj, tûj (“sharp; hot, spicy; severe”), Ossetian цыхт (cyxt, “cheese”), Persian تیز (tēz / tiz, “sharp; pungent; shrill; piercing; penetrating; nimble, swift; smart”), Sanskrit तेज॑ते (téjate, “to be or become sharp; to activate, energize”). Related to stigma.
From Middle English stiken (“to stick, pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *stikkōną (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tig-, *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”).
See also the related Proto-Germanic *stikaną, whence West Frisian stekke, Low German steken, Dutch steken, German stechen; compare also Danish stikke, Swedish sticka.
Cognate with the first etymology (same PIE root, different paths through Germanic and Old English), to stitch, and to etiquette, via French étiquette – see there for further discussion.
From Middle English stick, stik, steik, from Middle Dutch stic, stec, stuc (“piece”), from Old Dutch *stukki, from Proto-West Germanic *stukkī, from Proto-Germanic *stukkiją (“piece”). Cognate with German Stück (“piece”), Middle English stucche, sticche (“piece”).
The Officials were known as the "Stickies" because they sold stick-on lilies to commemorate the Easter Rising. This was used to contrast from the nickname for the Provisionals, the pinnies (pejoratively pinheads), who used pinned-on lilies, though the latter nickname disappeared.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small shoot, or branch, separated, as by a cutting, from a tree or shrub; also, any stem or branch of a tree, of any size, cut for fuel or timber.
- noun Any long and comparatively slender piece of wood, whether in natural form or shaped with tools; a rod; a wand; a staff; as, the stick of a rocket; a walking stick.
- verb To penetrate with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to stab; hence, to kill by piercing; as, to stick a beast.
- verb To cause to penetrate; to push, thrust, or drive, so as to pierce; as, to stick a needle into one's finger.
Etymology [OE. sticke, AS. sticca; akin to stician to stab, prick, pierce, G. stecken a stick, staff, OHG. steccho, Icel. stik a stick. See Stick, v. t..]
Etymology [OE. stikien, v.t. & i., combined with steken, whence E. stuck), AS. stician, v.t. & i., and (assumed) stecan, v.t.; akin to OFries. steka, OS. stekan, OHG. stehhan, G. stechen, and to Gr. tij to be sharp. Cf. Distinguish, Etiquette, Extinct, Instigate, Instinct, Prestige, Stake, Steak, Stick, n., Stigma, Stimulate, Sting, Stitch in sewing, Style for or in writing.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stick”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details