tickle
verb
- to touch or stroke lightly so as to induce teasing sensation
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L329322 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈtɪkl̩/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”). Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.
- Changeable, capricious; insecure.
“So ticle be the termes of mortall state, And full of subtile sophismes, which do play With double senses, and with false debate […]”
adv
Etymology: From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”). Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.
- Insecurely, precariously, unstably.
“Lucio. I warrant it is: And thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders, that a milke-maid, if she be in loue, may sigh it off: Send after the Duke, and appeale to him.”
name
Etymology: From Tickhill in England.
- A habitational surname from Old English.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”). Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.
- The act of tickling.
- An itchy feeling resembling the result of tickling.
“I have a persistent tickle in my throat.”
- A light tap of the ball.
“There's a very fine line between a tickle and an edge!”
- A narrow strait, such as between an island and the shore.
“Charts and Plans. [...] No. New Charts. 2253 England, and south coast—Dartmouth harbour. [...] 3320 Newfoundland, Thimble tickles and Glover harbour—Head of Seal bay.”
“Cow Head itself is a prominent headland connected to the settlement by a natural causeway, or ‘tickle’ as the Newfoundlanders prefer it.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”). Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.
- To touch repeatedly or stroke delicately in a manner which typically causes laughter, pleasure and twitching.
“He tickled Nancy's tummy, and she started to giggle.”
“If you tickle us, do we not laugh?”
- To feel as if the body part in question is being tickled.
“My nose tickles, and I'm going to sneeze!”
- To appeal to someone's taste, curiosity etc.
- To cause delight or amusement in.
“He was tickled to receive such a wonderful gift.”
“Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law, Pleas'd with a rattle, tickled with a straw.”
- To feel titillation.
“He with secret joy therefore Did tickle inwardly in every vein.”
- To catch fish in the hand (usually in rivers or smaller streams) by manually stimulating the fins.
- To be excited or heartened.