tick

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a metallic tapping sound
  2. noun any of two families of small parasitic arachnids with barbed proboscis; feed on blood of warm-blooded animals
  3. noun a mark indicating that something has been noted or completed etc.

Etymology

From Middle English tyke, teke, from Old English ticia (“parasitic animal, tick”), from Proto-West Germanic *tīkō, compare Dutch teek, German Zecke.

In classic literature

Synonyms

ticking

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