Meaning

8 senses

  1. (transitive)To stroke with the tongue.

    The cat licked its fur.

    lecken

    лиза́тьlizátʹ, обли́зыватьoblízyvatʹ, лизну́тьliznútʹ

    лиза́тиlyzáty, лизну́тиlyznúty, полиза́тиpolyzáty

    take up with the tongue

  2. (transitive)To lap; to take in with the tongue.

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

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

    pass the tongue over

  3. (colloquial, dated)To beat with repeated blows.

  4. (colloquial, dated)To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight.

    My dad can lick your dad.

    schlagen, besiegen

    побежда́тьpobeždátʹ, победи́тьpobedítʹ

  5. (colloquial, dated)To overcome.

    I think I can lick this.

  6. (slang, vulgar)To perform cunnilingus.

    lecken

    лиза́тьlizátʹ

  7. (colloquial)To do anything partially.

  8. To lap.

Examples

211 sentences

  1. The cat was licking its paws.

    Кіт лизав свої лапи. — deniko

    ruКот лизал свои лапы. — soweli_Elepanto

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Tom licked the butter off the knife.

    Том злизав масло з ножа. — deniko

    ruТом слизал масло с ножа. — Wezel

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Kissing a person who smokes is like licking an ashtray.

    Цілувати курильщика — все одно що лизати попільничку. — deniko

    ruЦеловать курильщика - всё равно что лизать пепельницу. — Selena777

    deJemanden, der raucht, zu küssen ist so, wie an einem Aschenbecher zu lecken. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray.

    Цілувати курильщика — це як лизати попільничку. — deniko

    ruЦеловать курильщика - это как лизать пепельницу. — Selena777

    _undertoad · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. I licked the spoon.

    Я лизнув ложку. — deniko

    ruЯ облизнул ложку. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
to stroke with the tongue:
Русский
By meaning 2
to stroke with the tongue:
colloquial: to defeat decisively:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
to stroke with the tongue:
colloquial: to defeat decisively:

Origin

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, fr

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; not paralleled in any other Germanic language.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

licks, licking, licked, licked
Base formlick · to lick
3rd person singularlicks
Present participlelicking
Past simplelicked
Past participlelicked

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theylick
he, she, itlicks

Past simpleLesson

all personslicked

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave licked
he, she, ithas licked

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill lick

Phrasal verbs

2 phrasal verbs

Synonyms

12 synonyms
beat:clobber
Close in meaning

Word family

22 related words
Derivedbelickfinger-lickin' goodinterlicklick cleanlickdishlickedlickerlickerylick matlick outlickpennylickportlickpotlickspittlelick uplickynonlickingoutlickoverlickrelickdevious lickfacelick

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
licenseA2lichlickspittlelicoricelidB2

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

lick — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto