stick

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as…

   An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.

   • The beaver's dam was made out of sticks.
2. 2

   Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.

   • Sealing wax is available as a cylindrical or rectangular stick.
3. 3

   Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.

   • My parents bought us each a stick of cotton candy.
4. ›+ 40 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.

      • I grew up driving a stick, but many people my age didn't.
   2. 5

      A stick-like item

      A stick-like item:

      • Tripping with the stick is a violation of the rules.
   3. 6

      Ability

      Ability; specifically:

      • I doubted that the three iron was enough stick.
   4. 7

      A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly…

      A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)

      • Your father's a great old stick. He's really been very good to me.
      • “[…]He’s a good doctor but an odd stick—odder by far than I am, Emily, and yet nobody ever says he’s not all there. Can you account for that? He doesn’t believe in God—and I am not such a fool as that.”
   5. 8

      Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.

      • We were tempted with the carrot but subtly threatened with the stick.
      • What about contempt? Isn't it used by the judiciary as a stick to dissuade people from writing or talking about them?
      • Back in 2009, when Democrats tried but failed to take significant climate action, their policy proposals consisted mainly of sticks—limits on emissions in the form of permits that businesses could buy and sell.
   6. 9

      A measure.

   7. 10

      Any of the eight 16-character groups making up the 128 characters of the 7-bit ASCII…

      Any of the eight 16-character groups making up the 128 characters of the 7-bit ASCII character set.

   8. 11

      To cut a piece of wood to be the stick member of a cope-and-stick joint.

   9. 12

      To compose

      To compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick.

      • to stick type
   10. 13

       To furnish or set with sticks.

   11. 14

       To hit with a stick.

   12. 15

       The tendency to stick (remain stuck), stickiness.

   13. 16

       That which sticks (remains attached to another surface).

   14. 17

       A thrust with a pointed instrument

       A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab.

       • What if Veronica Prego was lying about who drew the blood and it was her own carelessness, not Joyce Fogel's, which caused the needle stick?
   15. 18

       One who sticks at something

       One who sticks at something; one who persists.

       • There had been a reference to the language. "I often wished that I was a better stick at it," said Tulloch. "I'd picked up a bit in Bombay and of course I threw myself into it when Fraser got me the post. […]"
   16. 19

       To become or remain attached

       To become or remain attached; to adhere.

       • The tape will not stick if it melts.
       • I haue stucke vnto thy Testimonies: O Lord put me not to shame.
   17. 20

       To jam

       To jam; to stop moving.

       • The lever sticks if you push it too far up.
   18. 21

       To tolerate, to endure, to stick with.

       • Why do most course organizers stick the job for less than five years?
   19. 22

       To persist.

       • His old nickname stuck.
       • "Our team did brilliantly to be in the game. We stuck at it and did a good job. This is disappointing but we'll think about the next game tomorrow."
   20. 23

       Of snow, to remain frozen on landing.

   21. 24

       To remain loyal

       To remain loyal; to remain firm.

       • Just stick to your strategy, and you will win.
       • What I get from work makes me a better mother, and what I get from being a mother makes me a better journalist. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
   22. 25

       To hesitate, to be reluctant

       To hesitate, to be reluctant; to refuse (in negative phrases).

       • For thou art so possess’d with murderous hate That ’gainst thyself thou stick’st not to conspire.
       • Some stick not to say, that the Parson and Attorney forg’d a Will, for which they were well Paid […]
       • , 2nd edition edited by Samuel Johnson, London: J. Payne, 1756, Part I, p. 12, Though a cup of cold water from some hand may not be without its reward, yet stick not thou for wine and oil for the wounds of the distressed […]
   23. 26

       To be puzzled (at something), have difficulty understanding.

   24. 27

       To cause difficulties, scruples, or hesitation.

   25. 28

       To attach with glue or as if by gluing.

       • Stick the label on the jar.
   26. 29

       To place, set down (quickly or carelessly).

       • Stick your bag over there and come with me.
       • Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.
   27. 30

       To press (something with a sharp point) into something else.

       • The balloon will pop when I stick this pin in it.
       • to stick a needle into one's finger
       • The points of spears are stuck within the shield.
   28. 31

       To fix on a pointed instrument

       To fix on a pointed instrument; to impale.

       • to stick an apple on a fork
   29. 32

       To adorn or deck with things fastened on as by piercing.

       • my shroud of white, stuck all with yew
   30. 33

       To perform (a landing or a shot) perfectly.

       • Once again, the world champion sticks the dismount.
       • stick the landing
   31. 34

       To propagate plants by cuttings.

       • Stick cuttings from geraniums promptly.
   32. 35

       To run or plane (mouldings) in a machine, in contradistinction to working them by hand.…

       To run or plane (mouldings) in a machine, in contradistinction to working them by hand. Such mouldings are said to be stuck.

   33. 36

       To bring to a halt

       To bring to a halt; to stymie; to puzzle.

       • to stick somebody with a hard problem
   34. 37

       To impose upon

       To impose upon; to compel to pay; sometimes, to cheat.

       • Behind all that languid talk she was feverishly computing, "I wonder how much I can stick him for it. A hundred and fifty? But it's worth that - two hundred. He won't value it unless the price is stiff."
       • Chillin' in a Benz with my amigos / Tryin' to stick a nigga for his pesos
   35. 38

       To have sexual intercourse with.

       • You ain't lickin' this, you ain't stickin' this
       • You leave your girl around me; if she's bad she's gonna get stuck.
   36. 39

       To stand pat

       To stand pat: to cease taking any more cards and finalize one's hand.

   37. 40

       Likely to stick

       Likely to stick; sticking, sticky.

       • A non-stick pan. A stick plaster.
       • A sticker type of glue. The stickest kind of gum.
   38. 41

       The customary length (according to the material used) of a piece or roll of textile…

       The customary length (according to the material used) of a piece or roll of textile fabrics imported from Flanders.

   39. 42

       A member of the Official IRA.

   40. 43

       The Chapman Stick, an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman.

The neighborhood

• synonymstick
• synonymtwig
• neighborhandle
• neighborbone
• neighbortree
• neighborsceptre
• neighborstring
• neighbortube
• neighborbar
• neighborcane
• neighborrod
• neighborpole
• neighborstake
• neighborstaff