tick

«tick» in Mova's school dictionary: a mark (✓) that shows something is right or done… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a tick, ticks); verb (tick, ticks, ticked, ticking)

meaning for a pupil

1) A tick is a mark (✓) that shows something is right or done; Americans usually call it a check mark. tree →

2) A tick is the short sound a clock makes each second. tree →

3) A tick is a tiny eight-legged creature that bites animals and people and sucks their blood. tree →

4) To tick means to make a tick mark, or to make the ticking sound. tree →

5) «In a tick» (British) means in a moment. tree →

6) To tick can also mean to work or run well, as a machine or a person does. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school, the teacher ticks correct answers and children tick boxes on forms and checklists. In time lessons, a clock ticks once a second, 60 ticks in a minute. In nature and safety, ticks live in long grass and woods; after a walk, check your skin (especially behind knees and ears) and ask an adult to remove a tick carefully, because some ticks carry diseases like Lyme disease. Phrases: tick the box, tick off, tick-tock, in a tick, what makes someone tick.

examples

• The teacher put a tick next to every right answer. tree →
• Tick the box if you agree. tree →
• I can hear the clock ticking. tree →
• Check for ticks after walking in long grass. tree →
• Dad removed a tick from the dog's ear. tree →
• I'll be ready in a tick! tree →
• Tick off each item on the list as you pack it. tree →
• A tick is not an insect; it has eight legs. tree →
• He ticked superbly, but with one unforeseen result. tree →

note

In British English, a right answer gets a tick (✓) and a wrong one gets a cross (✗); in American English, a check mark. Ticks are related to spiders (eight legs), not insects (six legs). «What makes him tick» means what makes him behave as he does.

In the corpora

• Banded mongooses pick ticks off warthogs lying down; a friendship where both sides gain is called mutualism.
• Sally Lightfoot crabs are bright red crabs that leap from rock to rock, eat algae and pick ticks off marine iguanas.
• A tiny tick can hitch a ride on your leg without you feeling it.
• Six legs means an insect, eight means a spider or a tick.
• "Tick two" means exactly two ticks; a third tick loses the mark.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «tick» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.