flick

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a light sharp contact (usually with something flexible)
  2. noun a short stroke
  3. noun a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement

Etymology

From Middle English flykke (“light blow or stroke”). Later uses apparently interpreted as a back-formation from flicker. The use of flick to mean a film or movie derives from the fact that early films had a low frame rate, thus causing the film to "flick" rapidly when projected onto a screen.

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