tickle

«tickle» in Mova's school dictionary: to touch them lightly, often on the ribs or feet, so that… — 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

verb (tickle, tickles, tickled, tickling); noun (a tickle, tickles)

meaning for a pupil

1) To tickle someone means to touch them lightly, often on the ribs or feet, so that they laugh and wriggle. tree →

2) To tickle means to give a light, itchy feeling («The feather tickled my nose»; «a tickle in my throat»). tree →

3) To tickle someone can mean to amuse them («The joke tickled me»). tree →

4) A tickle is a light touch or itchy feeling. tree →

5) To tickle can also mean to stir up a feeling, such as hunger. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life tickling is a game in families, but body safety lessons teach that you can say «stop» and people must stop, even in play. In science you cannot tickle yourself, because the brain expects your own touch. Phrases: «tickled pink» (very pleased), «tickle fight», «a tickle in your throat».

examples

• Dad tickled my feet until I screamed with laughter. tree →
• The grass tickled my legs. tree →
• I have a tickle in my throat, so I keep coughing. tree →
• Stop tickling me! — and he stopped at once. tree →
• Grandma was tickled pink by the card. tree →
• You can't tickle yourself; try it! tree →
• The joke really tickled him. tree →
• The cat's whiskers tickled my cheek. tree →
• That odor tickled my hunger and I followed it. tree →

note

Regular verb: «tickled». Adjective «ticklish» (easily tickled). Body safety: if anyone keeps tickling you after you say stop, or it makes you uncomfortable, tell a trusted adult.

In the corpora

• Videos of tickled pet lorises raising their arms are not cute: the loris is frightened and getting ready to bite.
• You cannot tickle yourself because your brain predicts the feeling of your own fingers and makes it weaker; tickling needs surprise.
• Tickled rats make very high chirps, too high for us to hear without special equipment, and come back for more.
• Tickled rats make very high chirps that people cannot hear without special equipment, and they come back for more tickles.
• The Cat pats his cheek and tickles him with his tail, and the Baby laughs.

Trees and pragmatics

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