rick

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (`rick' and `wrick' are British)
  2. noun a stack of hay
  3. verb pile in ricks

Etymology

From Middle English *rykke, from Old English hrycce (“rick, heap, pile”), cognate with Scots ruk (“rick”), Norwegian ruka (“rick, haystack”). Related also to Old English hrēac (“rick, stack”), from Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“heap”). Further relations: Dutch rook, Icelandic hraukur, Irish cruach. Doublet of croagh.

In classic literature

Synonyms

crick, kink, wrick

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