lick

CEFRB1

/lɪk/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move your tongue over something.

  2. 02

    noun

    A small amount or quick taste of something.

Examples

  • I had a lick at the jam.

  • If you can't lick 'em, join 'em.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To beat with repeated blows.

  2. To lap; to take in with the tongue.

  3. To stroke with the tongue.

More examples

In context

  • Remove the beaters from the mixer before you lick them.

  • Jim closed his eyes and licked his vanilla ice cream cone.

  • She licked the last of the honey off the spoon before washing it.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The hungry dog tried to blank the last bit of peanut butter from the jar.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; not paralleled in any other Germanic language. See also Saterland Frisian likje, Dutch likken, German lecken; also Old Irish ligid, Latin lingō (“lick”), ligguriō (“to lap, lick up”), Lithuanian laižyti, Old Church Slavonic лизати (lizati), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō), Old Armenian լիզեմ (lizem), Persian لیسیدن (lisidan), Sanskrit लेढि (léḍhi), रेढि (réḍhi).