▪ I. sick, a. and n.
(sɪk)
Forms: α. 1–3 seoc (1 seoch, sioc), 2–3 seo(c)k; 3 sæc, seac, seak (9 dial.), 3, 6 seake; 1–3 sec (5 cec), 2–5 sek (5 cek), 2–6 seke (5 ceke), 5 seeke; 3 siec, 4 siek(e, 4–6 (9 dial.) seek, 5 seyk, 5–6 Sc. seik. β. 3 suc, sic, 3–6 sik (4 zik), 6–7 sicke (6 sycke), 6– sick (9 dial. zick). γ. 3–5 sijk (4 siik, syyk, 5 siyk), 4–5 sijke (4 siike, 5 syike); 3–5 syk, 4–6 syke (4 zyke); 3–5, 7 sike.
[Common Teut.: OE. séoc, = OFris. siak, sieck, sek (WFris. siik, † sjeack), MDu. siec, ziec (Du. ziek), OS. siok, seok, siak (MLG. sêk, seik, sik, LG. seek, siek, sük), OHG. siuh, sioh, seoh, siach, siech (MHG. and G. siech), ON. and Icel. sj{uacu}kr (Norw. and Sw. sjuk, Da. syg), Goth. siuks. Relationship to other Teutonic roots is uncertain, and no outside cognates have been traced. The variation of vowel in some ME. forms is not easy to account for.]
A. adj. I. 1. a. Suffering from illness of any kind; ill, unwell, ailing. Also, to go sick, to become ill, to report sick.
| α c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §5 Swa swa læca ᵹewuna is..ðonne hi siocne mon ᵹesioð. 971 Blickl. Hom. 59 Eal swylce seo lange mettrumnes biþ þæs seocan mannes. c 1020 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1015, Þa læᵹ se cyng seoc æt Cosham. c 1205 Lay. 6781 Swa þe king seoc [c 1275 seac] læi. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1175 Abimalech wurð sek on-on. 13.. K. Alis. 6978 (Laud MS.), Now man is hool, now man is seek. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 65 He makth him siek, whan he is heil. c 1440 Generydes 199 Youre fader is right seke this day. 1477 Caxton Dictes 9 It proffiteth as a good medicine couenably yeven to them that be seke. 1549 Compl. Scotl. xx. 165 Quhat medycyn can help ane seik man that hurtis hym selue vilfully? 1580 Haye in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 46 Is any seake amang you, lat him call for the preistes of the kirk. 1855 [Robinson] Whitby Gloss. s.v. Seak, ‘I was nowther seak nor sair when I said it’,..that is, in no way incapable of giving my evidence. |
| β c 1200 Moral Ode 201 (Trin. Coll. MS.), Nare noman elles dead ne sic ne non unsele. c 1275 Lay. 2794 Þo iwarþ þe king sick. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3861 Elydour feyned hym sik to lye. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 46 Þouȝ I be simpul & sik neþeles I wile euere haue a clerk þat schal do me dyuyne office. c 1450 Lovelich Grail li. 187 These herbes don me but distresse,..for I am Sykkere thanne I was before. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 16 b, So that none of them was sycke or miscaryed by y⊇ waye. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 493 In this meane while, king Henry waxed sicker and sicker. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 191 The one of these being very sicke, and, as was thought, in danger of death. 1674 Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physic 83 Instead of growing sicker, they are far more chearfull. 1709 Tatler No. 86 ¶3 At whose right hand he had sat at every Quarter-Sessions this Thirty Years, unless he was Sick. a 1774 Goldsm. Hist. Greece II. 183 At Issas he barbarously put to death all the Greeks who were sick in that city. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxiv, If she could be spared to come down and console a poor sick lonely old woman. 1879 [see sense 1 f below]. 1891 Freeman in Stephens Life (1895) II. 443 She too has been sick and sent up to Ilkley in Yorkshire. 1902 W. B. Yeats Where there is Nothing (1903) iv. i. 77 No fear, they won't refuse a sick man. 1915 D. O. Barnett Lett. 53 He's lots better this morning,..and he is not ‘going sick’ at all. 1927 E. J. Thompson These Men thy Friends 12 Filthy climate. No fun. But she just carries on. Hasn't gone sick once in six months. 1936 G. B. Shaw Millionairess ii. 164 You are my doctor: do you hear? I am a sick woman: you cannot abandon me to die. 1945 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 452/1 ‘And you're telling me that you've never had a few days off?.. Not even for sick-leave?’ ‘I was never sick, sir.’ 1952 [see lead n.1 6 b]. 1956 D. Jacobson Dance in Sun ii. ix. 91 ‘Hey,’ he said rudely to Fletcher, ‘are you sick?’ 1959 V. Watkins Cypress & Acacia 23, I found him feeble and sick. And cold. 1962 G. Lawton John Wesley's English iii. 57 When Wesley is sick he is ‘laid-up.’ 1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 24/4 Willis went sick during the opening match in Poona. |
| fig. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 96 Thy death-bed is no lesser then the Land, Wherein thou lyest in reputation sicke. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 56 Sicke in the Worlds regard. |
| γ c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 28 Þis bok he leide ope þis man, ase he so sijk þer lay. Ibid. 132 Þe Monenday sore syk þe bischop thomas lay. a 1320 Sir Tristr. 3126 Þai wende þe quen wald dye, So sike sche was bi siȝt. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1358 That is a fruyt ful wel to lyke, Namely to folk whan they ben syke. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. ix. 194 The feend..made the peple sijk. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xii. 294, I have lever deye than be longe syke. 1552 Latimer Serm. Lincoln v. (1571) 101 Our Sauiour was going to the house where this young mayde lay syke. |
b. Const.
of,
with (
† in,
on).
Also in figurative contexts,
cf. 3 and 4.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 23 Men þat ben siike in þe palesy. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 148 Be war..thou be noght sik Of thilke fievere [jealousy] as I have spoke. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxi. 385 Many sondry frutys so fayre..that a syke man of any infyrmyte shuld sone recouer helth. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 13 b, Ihon Lilie fel sicke on the gowte. 1579 W. Fulke Heskins' Parl. 136 To a sicke man of the ague, all drinkes seeme bitter. a 1618 Sylvester Auto-Machia 68 Sick to my Self I run for my reliefe: So, Sicker of my Physicke than my Griefe. 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. xxxvii. 11 Self-love, ignorance, &c...make the soul sick of the fret. 1731–8 Swift Polite Conv. i. Wks. 1751 XII. 209 You are sick of the Mulligrubs with eating chopt Hay. a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 320 This inn-keeper..being sick of a violent fever. 1884 Quincy Figures of Past 199 New York had succumbed to the influenza. Everybody had been..sick with it. |
c. Of parts of the body: Not in a sound or healthy state.
In later use usually with suggestion of sense 2.
| 1340 Ayenb. 148 Yef þe on leme is zik oþer y-wonded. c 1400 Brut. cci. 229 Seynt Thomas come vnto him, and enoynted oueral his sike side. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 35 Wher the heed is seke or euyll, þe membres may not be hoole ner good. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 33 b, Laye thys upon the sycke place. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xvii. 48 The kidneys might be sick, or..could not be nourished with good blood. 1700 Transactioneer 48 At last his Third Finger was sick. 1786 A. M. Bennett Juvenile Indiscr. I. 169 And had a sick stomach. 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. II. 115 A Sick Stomach will not digest the food that may be forced down it. 1821 Shelley Hellas 781 All that it inherits Are motes of a sick eye. |
d. sick man, a term frequently applied, during the latter part of the 19th
cent., to the Sultan of Turkey. Also
fig.,
orig. applied to Turkey and hence to other countries, regions, etc., and in extended uses.
The first
quot. refers to a conversation between the Tsar Nicholas I and Sir G. Seymour at
St. Petersburg on the 21 Feb. 1853.
| 1853 Ann. Register, Hist. 252, I am not so eager about what shall be done when the sick man dies, as I am to determine with England what shall not be done upon that event taking place. 1855 J. Martineau Essays, etc. I. (1890) 428 It was all right not to let the ‘sick man’ be frightened into convulsions. 1860 Motley Netherl. ii. I. 30 That formidable potentate, not then the ‘sick man’ whose precarious condition and territorial inheritance cause so much anxiety in modern days. 1860 S. S. Cox Eight Years in Congress (1865) 129 ‘Mexico is our {oqq}sick man{cqq}.’ ‘Yes; she is to America what Turkey is to Europe.’ 1868 C. Schurz Speeches, Corr. & Pol. Papers (1913) I. 456 The South is our ‘sick man’... The ‘sick man’ has been operated upon by Democratic doctors once more. 1888 S. Lane-Poole Turkey xvii. 343 The Powers have always acted on the principle that somebody must serve as a dyke between Russia and the Bosphorus, and that Turkey, being there, had better be maintained in her position. The ‘Sick Man’ of the morbid mind of Nicholas must be galvanized into sufficient vitality to sit up and pretend to be well. 1897 Japan Times 30 Mar. 3/4 Mr Valentine Chirol, who shortly after the war published in the London Times a series of remarkable articles exposing the rottenness of China..has recently been in the East again..and has commenced a second series of equally striking articles on the ‘Sick Man of Asia’. 1901 Daily Express 18 Mar. 4/4 French dealings with the Sultan of Morocco, the Sick Man of Africa. 1918 Times 3 Jan. 5/1 The Sick Man of Europe has changed his doctors, and the new doctors..have prescribed participation in the European war. Ibid. 5/2 The Sick Man finds himself less sick than his neighbour, and Russia defenceless offers her flanks to Turkey's sharpest blades. 1929 H. M. Kallen Frontiers of Hope 451 Under the terms of the Peace the Jew has simply been made to replace the Turk as the Sick Man of Europe. 1959 Listener 30 July 168/2 It was Italy which turned the Austrian empire into a second ‘sick man’. 1961 N. Smart in I. Ramsey Prospect for Metaphysics v. 80 Natural theology is the Sick Man of Europe. 1963 Times 31 Jan. 11/1 There is no imminent threat to it, but once that is passed India would be on the way to becoming in economic terms the sick man of Asia. 1967 Listener 26 Jan. 116/2 In December 1958 France was the sick man of Europe; it had no exchange reserves and was incapable of facing the Common Market. 1970 R. Lowell Notebook 205 The movie's not always the sick man of the arts. 1974 Times 4 May 8/4, I have been wondering who now qualifies for the title of Sick Man of Sound Broadcasting. 1979 G. St. Aubyn Edward VII vii. 319 China was the sick man of the Orient over whose corpse the vultures hovered. |
e. north. dial. In childbed, confined, lying-in.
| 1828 Craven Gloss. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss. |
† f. Said of pigeons which have lost their young and so have no recipient for the soft food that they regurgitate.
Obs.| 1765 Treat. Domestic Pigeons 21 If your Pigeons do not hatch, because their eggs are addle, or otherwise, you should give them a pair, or at least one young one, to feed off their soft meat, which would be apt to make them sick. 1854 L. A. Meall Moubray's Poultry viii. 455 We have never observed the old birds ‘sick’ (as most books assert they are) when the young have died. 1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper iii. 37 In order that another young one from some other pair..may be given the parents to feed off their soft meat, and save them from ‘going sick’ with it. |
g. slang (
orig. U.S.). Of a drug addict, craving for a dose of a drug, suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
| 1951 N.Y. Times 15 June 14/6, I..would walk up and..ask the bartender: ‘Say, have you seen so-and-so yet?’ I says: ‘Man, I'm sick.’ 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie vii. 69 The usual routine is to grab someone with junk on him, and let him stew in jail until he is good and sick. 1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene vii. 91 Even now, more than two years after leaving hospital, I still feel sometimes sick in the morning when I am tense or upset, and I feel sick whenever I see syringes or ‘addicts’ in TV plays. |
2. a. Having an inclination to vomit, or being actually in the condition of vomiting.
| 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair v. vi, O lend me a bason, I am sicke, I am sicke. 1656 [? J. Sergeant] tr. T. White's Peripat. Inst. 130 Those who are sick with riding in a Coach. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 341 He was very sick, and brought it up again. 1778 F. Burney Let. 5 July, Precipices, that, to look at, make my head giddy and my heart sick. 1815 Croker Papers (1884) I. iii. 75 The men were all sick, and the women and children thought they were going to the bottom. 1900 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 628 The patient, if he is in the house, usually crouches over the fire and feels sick and giddy. |
| fig. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. xiii. 11 But his essences turn'd the live air sick. 1856 Bryant Autumn Woods vi, When the noon of summer made The valleys sick with heat. |
b. More fully
sick at (or to, in) the stomach.
| 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. ii. vii, The Dog, when he is sick at the Stomach, knows his Cure, falls to his Grass, vomits, and is well. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 489 Antronius comes..to say, that he is sick at the stomach. 1753 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 48, Sick in my Stomach all the Morning—Owing to their hard Food. 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulgar T. (ed. 3), Sick as a horse. Horses are said to be extremely sick at their stomachs, from being unable to relieve themselves by vomiting. 1831 T. Hope Ess. Orig. Man II. 320 The elephant [will] eat sugar-plums till he turns sick at the stomach. 1863 Trollope Small House at Allington xxxvi, in Cornh. Mag. Aug. 228 How well can I remember the terror created within me by..a certain fine old gentleman... I would become sick in my stomach. 1923 [see here adv. 5 b]. 1947 A. Huxley Let. 9 Apr. (1969) 570, I heard a bit of the Parsifal Good Friday music at Easter⁓time.., and it made me feel even more ‘sick to my stomach’, as the Americans say, than in the past. 1948 ‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair xiii. 139 You make me sick—Cat-sick. Sick to my stomach. 1955 Jrnl. Canad. Linguistic Assoc. Mar. 17 Another expression which has some striking variants depending on the choice of preposition is sick at the stomach. In the Northern speech area of the United States the usual equivalent is sick to the stomach; in the Midland and Southern areas, at is the usual preposition... In New England..and most of the Yankee settlement areas, to enjoys a virtual monopoly. In northwest New York State, however, sick at the stomach is unusually common. 1975 Times 30 June 17/5 If all the factories are nationalized I shall walk out of here sick to the stomach. |
c. In phrases
sick as a dog,
horse, etc. ( Sense sometimes merging with 4). Also
sick as a parrot (a fanciful catch-phrase, chiefly used
joc.).
| 1705 Vanbrugh Confederacy ii. i, If..he shou'd chance to be fond, he'd make me as sick as a Dog. 1731–8 Swift Polite Conv. i. Wks. 1751 XII. 209 Poor Miss, she's sick as a Cushion, she wants nothing but stuffing. 1765 Sterne Tr. Shandy vii. ii, I am sick as a horse, quoth I, already. a 1843 Southey Doctor (1847) VII. 79 T' Trees gang fleeing by..an' gars yan be as seek as a peeate. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Sick as a horse, a common vulgar simile, used when a person is exceedingly sick without vomiting. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. xi. 207 It turned me as sick as a dog. a 1906 ‘T. Collins’ Rigby's Romance (1946) xli. 221 Well, by-and-by I woke up, sick as a dog, with my face all scorched, and I lay down again. 1915 J. Buchan 39 Steps vii. 161, I had a crushing headache, and felt as sick as a cat. 1947 A. Ransome Great Northern? xix. 238 ‘Sick as cats with himself,’ said Nancy. 1979 Private Eye 16 Feb. 12/1 The Moggatollah admitted frankly that he was ‘sick as a parrot’ at the way events had been unfolding. 1982 Daily Star 5 Feb. 5/6 Peter the budgie was sick as a parrot until a vet diagnosed his problem yesterday. Peter..has got gout! |
d. In phrases
to worry (oneself), be worried, sick.
| 1952 M. Laski Village v. 89 Edith Wilson had heard about Wendy's illness, and worried herself sick, not knowing what to do for the best. 1961 ‘J. le Carré’ Call for Dead iv. 37 You look worried sick. 1977 R. Ludlum Chancellor Ms. xxx. 320 She hasn't been able to sleep. She's worried sick. |
II. † 3. Spiritually or morally ailing; corrupt through sin or wrong-doing.
Obs.| c 960 Rule St. Benet (Schröer) ii. 11 Ᵹif he..his seocum, þæt is synfullum dædum ealle lacnunge ᵹeᵹearewade. a 1000 Juliana 65 Hæðne wæron beᵹen, synnum seoce, sweor & aþum. a 1225 Ancr. R. 176 Þet fleschs wolde..makien sic þe soule. a 1300 Cursor M. 25329 Bot if þi saul it be sua seke þat þou þi mode mai nagat meke. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 303 Go salue þo þat syke ben and þorw synne ywounded. 1404–8 26 Pol. Poems vii. 5 The flesch..Is wormes mete, and sek of synne. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 90 To so seyk & vnclene myndis..Aungell foyd sall not sauyr. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 109 Mony was seik of ane vice; to wit, immoderat libertie of lyfe. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 204, I meant to rectifie my Conscience, which I then did feele full sicke. 1738 Wesley Ps. vi. i, And heal my Soul diseas'd and sick. |
4. a. Deeply affected by some strong feeling, as (
a) sorrow, (
b) longing, (
c) envy, (
d) repugnance or loathing, producing effects similar or comparable to those of physical ailments.
| (a) a 1000 Fate of Apostles 2 Ic þysne sang siðᵹeomor fand On seocum sefan samnode wide. a 1000 Guthlac 1050 Ne beo þu on sefan to seoc! c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. met. xii. (1868) 107 He song..wiþ as myche as loue..myȝte ȝeuen hym and teche hym in his seke herte. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 77 It will make you sicke at the heart to see it. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 69 Thou Iulia thou hast..Made Wit with musing, weake; hart sick with thought. 1611 Bible Prov. xiii. 12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sicke. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 6 My soul is sick, with ev'ry day's report Of wrong and outrage. 1820 Shelley Witch Atl. 178 Liquors..whose healthful might Could medicine the sick soul to happy sleep. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. l. 3 When..the heart is sick, And all the wheels of Being slow. 1886 Robinson Courting May Smith vi. i, She was ill at ease, and sick at heart. |
| (b) c 1388 Wyclif Song Sol. v. 8 If ȝe han founde my derlyng, that ȝe telle to hym, that Y am sijk [L. langueo] for loue. c 1460 Sir R. Ros La Belle Dame 53 These seke lovers I leve that to hem longes. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 142 Boote, boote Master Shallow, I know the young King is sick for mee. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, ii. ii. 83, I would not be so sicke though for his place. 1637 B. Jonson Sad Shepherd i. ii, She's sick of the young shepherd that be⁓kiss'd her. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. ii. 28 When one [nightingale].., Sick with sweet love, droops dying away. 1842 Tennyson Talking Oak 71 This girl, for whom your heart is sick, Is three times worth them all. 1875 ― Harold i. i, Sick as an autumn swallow for a voyage. |
| (c) 1390 Gower Conf. I. 159 If evere yit thin herte was Sek of an other mannes hele? 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 132 So euery step Exampled by the first pace that is sicke Of his Superiour, growes to an enuious Feauer. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, i. ii. 82 What we oft doe best, By sicke Interpreters..is Not ours, or not allow'd. |
| (d) 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 212, I am sicke when I do looke on thee. 1599 ― Much Ado ii. ii. 5 Any barre..will be medicinable to me, I am sicke in displeasure to him. 1819 Shelley Cenci ii. i. 122 Thy milky, meek face makes me sick with hate! 1860 Tennyson Sea Dreams 155 It makes me sick to quote him. |
b. slang. Disgusted, mortified, chagrined.
| 1853 Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 254 Thinking..how sick he was when the jury..gave five hundred pounds damages against him. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 28 Mar. 7/1 Those who backed the popular fancies in the winter must be feeling, in popular parlance, pretty sick. |
| transf. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas, Rhyme Three Sealers, The sickest day for you..was the day that you came here. |
c. Phr.
to make (a person) sick.
| 1819, 1860 [see sense 4 a (d) above]. 1911 G. B. Shaw Blanco Posnet 30 A man like you makes me sick. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xii. 228 It makes one sick to see..men sweating their guts out to dig a trench.., when some easily devised machine would scoop the earth out in a couple of minutes. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax i. 18 The Duchess lost her temper. ‘You make me sick!’ she shouted. 1978 T. Allbeury Lantern Network iii. 34 He talks like a schoolboy. All that ‘knocking the Germans for six’ stuff, it makes me sick. |
5. a. Thoroughly tired or weary
of a thing.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. iii. 87 The Common-wealth is sicke of their owne Choice. 1603 Breton Dial. Pithe & Pleasure Wks. (Grosart) II. 14/1 Where the sonne is sike of the father, the sister of the brother. 1710 Tatler No. 257 ¶3, I was quickly sick of this tawdry Composition of Ribands, Silks and Jewels. 1797–1805 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. I. 7 Heartily sick of his host, himself, and his travels. 1842 Miall in Nonconf. II. 281 The world is sick of such societies. 1884 Manch. Exam. 7 May 5/4 There are plenty of Tories everywhere who are sick of the old party traditions. |
b. In phrases
sick and tired of (
cf. sick-tired, sense 11),
sick to death of.
| 1783 ‘J. H. St. John de Crèvecœur’ Sk. 18th-Cent. Amer. (1925) 298, I am quite sick and tired of these pretended conscientious non-fighting mortals. 1884 E. W. Nye Baled Hay 124 We are sick and tired of pointing out different avenues of wealth to be laughed at and ridiculed. 1890 E. Dowson Let. c 11 Sept. (1967) 166, I am sick to death of this place. 1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby ix. 205 ‘You young men think you can force your way in any time,’ she scolded. ‘We're getting sick in tired of it.’ 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 117 He was sick to death of the sound of these three crass monosyllables which he seemed always to be reiterating. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 9 July 2/6, I believe people are sick and tired of half-truths and evasions. |
III. 6. Mentally affected or weak. Also, morbid, enjoying sick humour (see sense 7 f below). Now
rare.
Cf. OE. séocmód adj. in Napier
Contrib. O.E. Lex.| c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 772 Þan waxes his gaste seke and sare, And his face rouncles. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 10 b, Some menne are so sicke in their braine, that thei are neuer wise. 1692 S. Patrick Answ. Touchstone 223 If they are not sick in their wits. 1817 Shelley Rev. Isl. v. xxvii. 3 It was a tone Such as sick fancies in a new⁓made grave Might hear. 1959, 1960 [see sense 7 f below]. 1961 Times 17 July 14/5 Mr. Sahl is disapproving of the so-called ‘sick’ comedians of America. 1961 Webster s.v. 1sick, A sick personality. 1962 Listener 25 Oct. 692/3 From Korea James Mossman reported on the Panmunjom truce-line (a raree-show for tourists these days, I gather: how sick can people get?). 1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence 45 Don't mind them, honey! They're the sickest bunch of people you ever saw. |
7. a. Of things: Out of condition in some respect; corrupted or spoiled;
spec. of wine which has become turbid, or of quicksilver (see
quot. 1875).
| 1388 Wyclif Isaiah xxiv. 7 Vyndage morenyde, the vyne is sijk [L. infirmata]. c 1440 tr. Pallad. on Husb. iii. 939 Thy tre is seek, oyldregges water mynge [etc.]. c 1460 Russell Bk. Nurture 116 in Babees Bk. 125 Ȝiff swete wyne be seeke or pallid, put in a Rompney for lesynge. a 1470 Dives & Pauper (W. de W.) vii. x. 290/1 Yf a man or woman selle a seke thynge for an hole thynge wyttyngly to begyle the byer, he doth theeft. 1513 Douglas æneid iii. ii. 153 The seik ground denyis his fruite and fudis. 1697 Tryon Way to Health xv. (ed. 3) 369 A Medicine of a loathing Quality, and far Sicker in Nature than the distempered Patient. 1703 Art & Myst. Vintners 7 Renish [wine]..commonly grows sick in June, if not rack'd. 1743 Lond. & Co. Brewer iii. 208 If the Wort is sick, it cannot fail of communicating its unwholesome Quality to the Blood. 1817 in Trans. Ill. State Hist. Soc. 1910 (1912) 147 Sick Milk, Sick Wheat, a plenty of Ague near the large streams. a 1821 Keats Hyperion i. 189 Instead of sweets, his ample palate took Savour of poisonous brass and metal sick. 1847 H. Howe Hist. Collect. Ohio 274 Those lands were too sick for wheat, making ‘sick’ wheat, so termed, because when made into bread, it had the effect of an emetic. 1868 H. C. R. Johnson Argentine Alps 103 The people very generally drink the wine new, the year after it is made—just as likely it is sick. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts II. 696 The quicksilver constantly became ‘sick’,..and lost apparently all its natural affinity for gold. 1892 Longman's Mag. Nov. 83 Should the hot and dry weather long continue, a curious phenomenon takes place. The mere is said to be ‘sick’; that the eels are so there can be no doubt. 1915 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1914 672 The fertility of this ‘sick’ soil can be restored by merely heating it for an hour or two to a temperature approaching that of boiling water. 1921 Brit. Mus. Return 74 in Parl. Papers XXVII. 651 The treatment and cleaning of sick and dirty coins. 1930 N. & Q. 16 Aug. 124/2 A cheese..is sick when it has been over soured or over acidulated, and in time ‘weeps’, gradually becoming soft inside. 1947 I. L. Idriess Isles of Despair xvi. 106 Some roots are ‘sick’, eaten through and through by boring insects. 1965 Listener 2 Sept. 358/1 Soils can be said to be ‘potato sick’, ‘rose sick’, ‘flax sick’, etc. |
| fig. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 124 This night methinkes is but the daylight sicke. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 103 O, when Degree is shak'd,..The enterprize is sicke. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 738 A sepulchre..Where all good qualities grow sick and die. 1822 J. Flint Lett. fr. Amer. 111 When the sick system dies, the public will see the full amount..they have to suffer for their credulity. 1931 H. Crane Let. 13 June (1965) 371 As for Mexico..you were right, it's a sick country. 1959 Washington Post 18 Nov. a 16/2 Some czars in the labor movement will scream over this resort to the courts to straighten out so-called internal affairs of sick unions, but for racket-harassed workers it is an event of the first importance. 1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 2 Feb. 4 He has taken other sick businesses and has done a marvelous job with them. 1973 Black Panther 14 July 6/2, I was basically looking at myself..people of my complexion struggling for their liberation. I saw how sick conditions were. 1976 Smythies & Corbett Psychiatry iii. 29 Concepts like a ‘sick’ society have become commonplace. |
b. Said of the young and ungrown feathers of a bird in moulting-time.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. (Arb.) 272 These fowles in their moulting time, when their feathers be sick. 1592 Greene Disput. 22, I see the fayrest Hawke hath often⁓times the sickest feathers. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. v. 187 If a Seraphim himself should be a Bishop, he would either finde or make some sick feathers in his wings. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xxxvii, A dove..with sick unpruned wing. |
c. Of fish, etc.: In the spawning stage.
| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Herring, The shotten and sick Herrings [are sorted] by themselves. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 107/1 The mass of ova..is spoken of by oyster fishers as ‘white spat’, and an oyster containing them is said to be ‘sick’. |
d. Naut. Requiring repairs.
More common in combs. as
iron-sick,
nail-sick.
| 1854 E. S. Sheppard Counterparts I. 7 And the Shelley, she lays down at X, sick of paint. 1893 Alston & Walker Seamanship (ed. 3) 55 Sick Seams.—Are those in which the stitches are worn, and give way here and there. |
e. Stock Exchange. Slow, dull.
| 1870 J. K. Medbery Men. & Mysteries of Wall St. 137 A Sick market; the market is Ill. When brokers very generally hesitate to buy. 1880 Daily News 13 Dec. 7/2 The [wool] market has been somewhat sick. 1904 Daily Chron. 22 Mar. 2/5 Kaffir shares were again rather sick, and closed lower. |
f. colloq. Of humour, a joke, etc.: macabre, providing amusement by reference to something that is thoroughly unpleasant.
| 1959 Punch 2 Sept. 106/1 The prototype of sick jokes is one that goes ‘But apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?’ 1959 Guardian 16 Oct. 10/3 Feiffer..belongs..to the new American fashion of sick humour... Like those gifted sick comedians Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce..he is able to go straight to the springs of derision and aggression where so much humour begins. 1959 Washington Post 26 Nov. d 22/1 ‘Sick comedy,’ defines Berman carefully, ‘is comic material which violates what we regard as the limits of sensitivity—poking fun at a cripple..or kidding a typhoon that killed thousands.’ 1960 Guardian 7 Oct. 15/3 Jules Feiffer, regarded as one of the ‘sick’ school of cartoonists, is not as sick as all that... No one is sicker than Charles Addams. 1961 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 84/2 To enjoy..the sick joke..you have to..swallow jokes about cancer, corruption, homosexuality, third degree, race prejudice and insanity. 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1035/4 This has been a time of sick laughter. 1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xvii. 164 How long exactly does it take to become a bomb-disposal expert? And don't tell me that you learn by your mistakes because I'm not in the mood for sick jokes. 1975 P. Fussell Gt. War & Mod. Memory vi. 228 There is extant a postwar version of such a record [of battle],..aimed at what today might be called the Sick Nostalgia Market. 1978 D. Devine Sunk without Trace xxv. 226 ‘How does it feel..to be back in the bosom of your family?’ Judy said sharply: ‘I'm not in the mood for sick jokes.’ |
8. Of a sickly hue; pale, wan.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 8 Be not her Maid since she is enuious, Her Vestal liuery is but sicke and greene. a 1822 Shelley Triumph Life 430 A light of heaven, whose half-extinguished beam Through the sick day..Glimmers. 1845 J. C. Mangan Germ. Anthol. I. 139 Out, out, sick light! Out, flickering taper! |
9. Accompanied by illness or sickness; denoting sickness.
Cf. sick headache in sense 12. Also in
fig. contexts.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 84 Now comes the sicke houre that his surfet made. 1647 Trapp Comm. Rom. ii. 19 So spending thy time in a still dream, but thou shalt have sick waking. 1656 Earl of Monmouth Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. 273, I did first exactly consider the body of the State of Rome in its sick condition. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Ep. i. xviii. 159 They dread A sick Debauch and aching Head. 1827 Carlyle Germ. Rom. II. 176 Seventeen sick and pitiable years, before death put a period to her sufferings. 1889 Repentance of Paul Wentworth III. 297 A sick despair was at his heart. |
10. (Chiefly from the absolute or substantival use: see B.)
a. Appropriated or given up to, occupied by, one or more persons in a state of illness, as
sick-bay,
sick-berth,
sick-bungalow,
sick-bunk,
sick-chamber,
sick-couch, etc. Also
sick-bed, -house, -room.
Cf. older
Flem. sieckkamer,
-stoel (Kilian), G.
siechkammer,
-stube,
-zimmer,
Sw. sjukstuga,
-säng.
| 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 465 The temporary *sick⁓bay, in which they had been heretofore, being pulled down. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict., Sick-bay, a place set apart in a ship for invalids or wounded men. 1919 W. Lang Sea Lawyer's Log i. 6 Then our guide, a Leading Seaman,..conducted us to the doctor's quarters—or ‘sick bay’, as he expressed it. 1971 P. D. James Shroud for Nightingale iii. 60 She's in the sick bay... It's part of the private wing. |
| 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 284 We offer the plan of a *Sick Berth, which is to be considered as the hospital of a ship of the line. 1863 A. Young Naut. Dict., Sick-berth attendant, formerly termed Lob⁓lolly Boy; in a ship of war, a person who attends the surgeon and his assistants. |
| 1845 Stocqueler Brit. India 244 At Almorah there are five bungalows, called *sick bungalows, belonging to government. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xvii. 200 Nearly all our party..were tossing in their *sick-bunks. |
| 1825 Scott Betrothed xxvii, Margery, whose element was a *sick-chamber. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. 431 The grief and anxiety of a sick chamber. |
| 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 4 The *sick-couch is preparing, with..agonies and death. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam iv. v. 5 That gentle Hermit..By my sick couch was busy to and fro. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xviii. 187, I had carried Mr. Goodfellow to the *sick-station with my dog-sledge. |
| 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. ii. 132 We set up a..copper-oven near the *sick tents. |
| 1632 Sherwood, The *sick-ward of an hospitall, la maladerie. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 491 The efficacy of these vapours in destroying the offensive smells which occur in sick-wards. |
b. Of or pertaining to, connected with, persons suffering from illness, as
sick-allowance,
sick-benefit,
sick-book,
sick-club,
sick cookery, etc.
| 1863 Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 198 His first ideas..run in the line of sick-leave and *sick-allowances. |
| 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. 26 Dec. 56/2 Members who..may have received *sick-benefit. 1952 Sick benefit [see approved ppl. a. 6]. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Sick-book, an account of such officers and men as are on the sick list on board, or are sent to an hospital, hospital-ship, or sick-quarters. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. (1864) II. 331 Among these workmen are no Trade Societies, no Benefit or *Sick-Clubs. |
| 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. ii. iii. 489 *Sick-cookery should more than half do the work of the poor patient's weak digestion. |
| 1731–8 Swift Polite Conv. i. 137 This is my *sick Dish; when I am well, I'll have a bigger. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Sick-flag, the yellow quarantine flag. |
| 1849 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers v. (1851) 53 A portion of the proceeds being handed over to the *sick-fund for persons..hurt in the service. |
| 1899 Month May 462 To master the principles of *sick-insurance. |
| 1840 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 179 He would use all interest to get home on *sick leave. 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xxix. 231 He'll be home on sick leave.., the doctor says. 1976 Times 8 Mar. 12/8 Staff are entitled to paid sick leave only if there is a reasonable prospect of their return to duty. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Sick-mess, a table for those on the doctor's list. |
| a 1660 in J. Morris Troubles Cath. Foref. (1872) vi. 277 The Cellaress and *Sick Mistress..remained there. |
| 1739 Bp. Herring in J. Duncombe Lett. (1773) II. 135 A woman, in a *sick night-cap hanging over the stairs. |
| 1887 Spectator 15 Oct. 1385 A member of a Benefit Society is not allowed, when receiving *sick-pay, to put his hand to a stroke of work. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 953 A low temperature is always accompanied by a decrease in the *sick-rate. |
| 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 52 But you, at your *sicke seruice had a Prince. |
| 1802 E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 37 Discharged with a *sick ticket to go home. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Sick-ticket, a document given to an officer, seaman, or marine, when sent to an hospital. |
| 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 593 In like manner the *sick-time is augmented principally by the attacks. |
11. Comb., as
sick-brained,
sick-feathered,
sick-hearted,
sick-thoughted;
sick-fallen,
sick-pale,
sick-sweet,
sick-tired;
sick-making ppl. adj. and
vbl. n.; also
sick-child,
sick-heart used
attrib.| 1658 2nd Narr. Parl. in Harl. Misc. (1809) III. 474 Whether the protector, and the great men his confederates, be not rather to be termed fanatick, whimsical, and *sick-brained, than those who [etc.]. |
| 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xxvii, In a soft, whining, *sick-child sort of voice. |
| 1605 Tryall Chevalr. i. ii. in Bullen Old Pl., Idle love, The *sick-fac't object of an amorous brayne. |
| 1595 Shakes. John iv. iii. 153 And vast confusioun waites As doth a Rauen on a *sicke-falne beast. |
| 1687 Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 614 The latter brood,..*Sick-feather'd, and unpractis'd in the sky. |
| 1875 Morris æneid xii. 850 *Sick-heart men. |
| a 1835 Mrs. Hemans Poems (1875) 541 Sing to thy child, the *sick-hearted, Songs of a spirit oppress'd. |
| 1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies i. 7 Sometimes the ship pitched and sometimes she rolled... ‘Too, too *sick⁓making,’ said Miss Runcible, with one of her rare flashes of accuracy. 1938 Dylan Thomas Let. c 6 July (1966) 203 There will be speechmaking, drunkmaking, sickmaking and we must all dress up. 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate i. vi. 59 I'm in a terrible do about my [stolen] bracelet of lucky charms—no value to anybody else—really—too too sick-making. 1976 I. Illich Limits to Medicine 7 What has turned health care into a sick-making enterprise is the very intensity of an engineering endeavour. 1978 Times 5 Oct. 2/4 What is sickmaking is the IBA..trying to make the BBC out as the monster and them the viewers' guardian. |
| 1810 Crabbe Borough xx. 314 She and that *sick-pale brother. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 444 The odour of the *sicksweet weed floats toward him. |
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 5 *Sick-thoughted Venus makes amaine vnto him. 1631 Quarles Samson viii, From his loathed Bed, Sicke-thoughted Samson rose. |
| 1861 J. Barr Poems 11 (E.D.D.), I'm *sick tired o' a bachelor life. 1896 Harper's Mag. Apr. 742/2 Gordon was sick-tired of journalistic chatter. |
12. Special combs., as
sick-bag, a bag provided in aircraft, ships, etc., as a receptacle for vomit;
sick call, (
a) (
orig. and chiefly
Mil.), a call sounded to summon those reporting sick to a place of treatment; an assembly for medical treatment; (
b) a visit made to a sick person; (
c) a summons to visit a sick person;
sick headache = migraine; also in phrases as a type of something useless or unhelpful;
sick parade Mil., an inspection of those who are ill; the people on sick parade;
sick visiting (see
quot. 1933).
| 1962 W. Schirra in Into Orbit 33 On the plane, John Glenn and Al Shepard took one of the brown paper ‘sick⁓bags’ and scribbled on it: ‘Here is the answer to the air sickness problem.’ 1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vi. 71 The accustomed routine with Kleenex and sick bags..and barley sugar. |
| 1836 J. Hildreth Dragoon Campaigns to Rocky Mountains 114 Every morning..‘sick call’ blows. 1850 E. Price (title) Sick calls: from the diary of a missionary priest. 1883 M. E. Herbert tr. Life St. John Baptist de Rossi iii. iv. 147 The servants never again dared to fail to warn him of any sick call. 1930 F. A. Pottle Stretchers 31 Sick call is blown before the dispensary door. 1931 P. J. Joyce John Healy ii. 37 That imperious, unmistakable sick-call knock. 1945 Yank 13 July 19/2 A punitive measure to discourage falling out for sick call. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 1-b/4 There is a daily sick call by a local doctor for the inmates. 1977 New Yorker 24 Oct. 106/2 A third way for an inmate to see a doctor is to go to sick call, which is held each weekday morning at Green Haven on the first floor of the Hospital-Segregation Building. 1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends iv. ii. 389, I was a young priest at the time, see, and I get this sick-call. |
| 1778 Fothergill in Med. Observ. (1784) VI. 103 Remarks on that Complaint commonly known under the Name of the Sick Head-ach. 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 286 A dissertation on the sick head-ach,..by Dr. Nathaniel Dwight. 1857 M. O. Colt Jrnl. 18 May (1862) xii. 218, I..was obliged..to..stay two nights and one day, suffering with a sick headache. 1915 D. O. Barnett Lett. 153 Shrapnel is for defenders, to stop an advance of infantry, but no more use against prepared positions than a sick headache. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xii. 252 That pair in the back, between them, are about as much use as a sick headache. |
| 1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand xi. 137 M'Splae departs, grumbling, and reappears on sick parade a few days later. 1927 R. H. Mottram Spanish Farm Trilogy 258 Do you know what a sick parade I've got? Eighty! Yes, I have. 1966 Times 9 July 9/7 Command Orders say... Sick Parade has now become ‘sick list’. |
| 1933 O.E.D. Suppl. s.v. sick a. and sb. 10 b, Sick visiting, the visiting of the sick, esp. by a minister of religion. 1960 N. Nicholson William Cowper 13 A most exacting life of piety, prayer-meetings, self-denial, and sick-visiting. 1977 West Briton 25 Aug. 11/1 He paid tribute to Mr. Clay's work, especially his sick visiting. |
B. absol. or as n. 1. absol. as
pl. Those who, such as, are suffering from illness.
| α c 1000 Ags. Gosp., Mark xvi. 18 Ofer seoce hi hyra handa settað & hi beoð hale. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 37 To seke gan and þa deden helpen to buriene. a 1225 Ancr. R. 330 Sume helpe..uorte lecnen mid þe seke. a 1300 Cursor M. 14078 Giueand mani seke þair hele. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 265 Ther is phisique for the seke. a 1450 Myrc 1841 When þow schalt to seke gon, Hye þe faste. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 95 b/2 He comanded that the feble and seke shold be sette aparte by them self. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scotl. I. 90 To restore to thair health seik and waik. |
| β 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 153 b, Visytynge the sycke, comfortynge y⊇ prisoner. 1592 Lyly Gallathea i. i, It's hard for the sicke to followe wholesome counsaile. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 218 The sicke of the dropsie augment their thirst in drinking. 1681 Belon New Myst. Physic 49 Supposing that the Sick are duly prepared. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. i. 293 Fresh provisions were distributed amongst the sick. 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 224 The sick were so numerous that it became necessary to call in..a nurse. 1888 H. Morten Hospital Life 49 Her friends were the sick and suffering. |
| γ a 1225 Ancr. R. 32 Gedereð in owre heorte alle sike & alle sorie. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 28 Uisiti þe poure and to sike. a 1300 Assump. Virg. (Camb. MS.) 63 Poure and sike he dude god, And seruede hem. 1340 Ayenb. 267 Ich y-zeȝ..þe tribz..of poure, and of zyke. 1404–8 26 Pol. Poems vi. 39 Fede non hungry, ne cloþe no bare;..Visite no syke. c 1440 Jacob's Well 254 To haue compassioun on alle syke & sory. |
2. A person suffering from illness. ?
Obs.| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §7 Swa swa se sioca ah þearfe þæt hine mon læde to þæm læce. c 1205 Lay. 17716 Ne ræche ich nane garsume.., Ah ælche seocken ich hit do For luue of mine drihtene. a 1300 Cursor M. 8060 To se þat seke a turn he made, In sekenes sar he fand him stad. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ix. (Bartholomew) 90 And with þat wourd..Þe seke wes heylit of his care. 1412 Lydg. Troy Bk. i. 3627 A medicine Availeth nat, whan þe seke is ded. c 1450 Merlin 52 Plese it yow to axe of youre devynour, yef this seke shall euer be hoill of this sekenesse. 1526 Tindale Matt. ix. 6 Then sayd he vnto the sicke of the palsey. 1799 Underwood Dis. Child. (ed. 4) I. 301 In which interval the sick passes a high-coloured urine. |
3. a. A disease or illness (
obs.); a fit of sickness; a sickening.
rare exc. in
phr. to give (a person) the sick, to nauseate, to disgust.
It is doubtful whether even the older examples have any direct connexion with such forms as
Goth. siukei,
OHG. siuhhî (G.
seuche,
sieche),
Icel. s{yacu}ki, etc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10407 Þai..Wit-vten want has alle þair wis, Wit-vten seke, wit-vten sare. 13.. Ibid. 14147 (Gött), Þe seke him saris fra heued to fote. 1808 Jamieson, Sick, sickness, a fit of sickness; as, ‘The sick's na aff him’. 1849 Sessions Paper 26 Nov. 5 If I have many such markets as this, it will give me the sick. 1897 Maugham 'Liza of Lambeth i, This is too bloomin' slow, it gives me the sick. 1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air IV. v. 257 As for the picturesqueness,..it merely gives me the sick. 1960 Spectator 11 Nov. 751 Rackham and all give me the sick. |
b. Colloq. phr. on the sick, incapacitated by illness, receiving sickness benefit.
| 1976 News of World 14 Mar. 11/2 My Dad used to be on the sick for a long time and couldn't work. 1976 Par Golf Aug. 39/3, I didn't realise this would get in the papers. It could cost me my job. I'm on the sick. 1976 L. Thomas Dangerous Davies vii. 68, I took it [sc. an allotment] on..but then I was on the sick for months..and the council..takes it off me. |
4. Vomited matter.
| 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 162 Spread it on the butty nice and thick, Swallow it down with a bucket of sick. 1966 Listener 3 Nov. 651/3 Middle-aged Chelsea ladies are crawling about in each other's sick. 1977 Ibid. 3 Mar. 282/4 There's blood on the windscreen, sick on the trousers. |
▸
slang (now
esp. Skateboarding and
Surfing). Excellent, impressive; risky.
| 1983 UNC-CH Campus Slang (Univ. N. Carolina, Chapel Hill) (typescript) Spring 5 Sick, unbelievably good: The Fleetwood Mac concert was sick. 1992 Caribbean Week Apr. 26/1 ‘A really sick car’ is an attractive, eye-catching vehicle and not one that's ready for the repair shop. 1997 BMX Plus! Apr. 56 (caption) Jeff Harrington has some of the sickest jumping variations we have ever seen. 2002 U.S. News & World Rep. 21 Jan.–4 Feb. 63/1 ‘That's siiiick!’ gushes an admiring fan. |
▸
sick building n. a building, typically a large, older, relatively poorly maintained office building, in which occupants report an increased incidence of non-specific upper respiratory and other symptoms (sick building syndrome), which have been attributed to factors such as temperature, humidity, indoor air pollutants, noise levels, and visual display units; also in extended use.
| 1983 Progressive Archit. Mar. 143/1 To the degree that buildings have always developed problems, there have always been people concerned with healing, or at least treating the symptoms of, ‘*sick’ buildings. 1987 Washington Business Jrnl. 6 July 21 Within these potentially infested, or ‘sick’ buildings, occupants often have hints of trouble right under their noses. 1996 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 14 Sept. Several risk factors..have been identified from a large number of studies on the epidemiology of the syndrome and investigations of ‘sick’ buildings. 1997 GQ Sept. 147/2 Stein viewed Scottish football as a sick building where it was difficult to stay ‘without catching some of the disease’. |
▸
sick building syndrome n. a syndrome of uncertain aetiology consisting of non-specific, mild upper respiratory symptoms (stuffy nose, itchy eyes, sore throat), headache and fatigue, experienced by occupants of ‘sick buildings’; (also) the environmental conditions existing in such a building; abbreviated
SBS (
cf. tight building syndrome n. at
tight adj. and
adv. Additions).
| 1983 Industry Week 2 May 45/2 We're seeing more and more large, centrally ventilated buildings that suffer from the *sick-building syndrome. 1985 Company Dec. 34/2 Sick building syndrome is relatively new to doctors, but increasing numbers of people are suffering headaches, breathing and nasal problems as a result of faulty air conditioning, poor lighting and extra heat given out by computer systems. 1996 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 14 Sept. Risk factors for sick building syndrome:..sedentary occupation, clerical work..low ceilings..low supply rate of outdoor air..damp areas and mould growth..dust, solvents, and ozone emissions from printers and photocopiers.., low frequency noise [etc.]. 1999 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 9 Nov. 49/6 With additional concerns of sick building syndrome at Cedar Hill, rising from complaints of a ‘rotten egg’ smell in a bathroom, the district also hired environmental health experts to evaluate overall health conditions at the school. |
▸
sick puppy n. orig. and chiefly
U.S. (a) colloq. a very ill person;
(b) slang an abnormal, deviant, or deranged person.
| 1948 S. Spewack Busy Busy People xi. 121 ‘I'm sick,’ said Brell... But Pop merely chuckled. ‘Poor little *sick puppy.’ 1960 M. Davenport Constant Image xiv. 203 He's given her a shot of something to calm her stomach. She really is much better, but she was a sick puppy this morning. 1982 Boston Globe 3 Sept. 24/1 Dismissing..Burke..as ‘a sick puppy’. 2003 P. Reed One 8 We think you're a sick puppy, mister. |
▪ II. sick, v.1 Forms: 2
seocan, 4
seke, 5
cekyn,
seeke(n; 4
sijken, 5
syken,
sike,
syk; 6–
sick (7
sicke).
[f. sick a. Cf. Fris. siikje, MDu. sieken (Du. zieken), MLG. sêken, sûken (LG. sîken, s{udotab}ken), OHG. siuhhan, -ên, -ôn (MHG. and G. siechen), ON. sj{uacu}kask (refl.), Goth. siukan.] † 1. To suffer illness; to fall ill, sicken.
Obs.| a 1150 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. CXVII. 25 Languet, seocet. a 1300 Cursor M. 11816 Þat caitif vn-meth and vn-meke, Nu bigines he to seke. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xiii. 14 Helise forsothe sijkide in sijknesse. c 1400 Brut cxxviii. 303 Þat he þat siked þis day, deid on þe iij. day after. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 65 Cekyn or wexe seke, infirmor. 1594 Peele Battle of Alcazar i. ii, To sick as Envy at Cecropia's gate, And pine with thought and terror of mishaps. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 128 A little time before That our great Grand-sire Edward sick'd, and dy'de. |
2. trans. To cause to sicken; to make ill. Now
rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14147 Þe sare him sekes fra hede to fote. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvi. 4 Myn enemys þat angirs me, þei are sekid & doun fell. a 1645 Heywood Apollo & Daphne Wks. 1874 VI. 289 His piercing beams I never shall endure, They sicke me of a fatall Calenture. 1909 J. Masefield Tragedy of Nan iii. 64 You talk rude to the quality... Talk as'd sick a savage. |
3. intr. To act as a sick-nurse.
nonce-use.
| 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxv, Whether I sicks or monthlies, ma'am, I hope I does my duty. |
4. trans. and intr. To vomit, to spew
up. Also
fig.| 1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea xix. 333 The volcano started in sicking up red-hot pitch and all. 1930 Kipling Thy Servant a Dog 25, I have ate grass and sicked up. 1930 Dialect Notes VI. 83 [Child loq.] I sicked all over my yew dress. 1937 L. A. G. Strong Swift Shadow 209 But the snow do turn my stomach and I sicked in the hedge. 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway 162 It can't do me any good if I sick it all up. 1954 ‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom vii. 100, I can't go sicking it all up to the police. 1966 C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush xiii. 188 On the way the reptile sicked up another hen, and half-way it regurgitated a third hen on the floor of my vehicle. 1975 Times 16 Jan. 18/3 A planeload of passengers sicking their breakfast. 1980 Sunday Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 21 Dec. 11/3 She sings Away in a Manger..and drinks lots of drinks and then she sicks up. |
▪ III. sick, v.2 (
sɪk)
Also
sic.
[dial. var. of seek v.] 1. trans. Of a dog: To set upon, attack (an animal). Chiefly in imperative.
| 1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adv. S. Suggs 154 Sick him Pomp,..sick, sick, si-c-k him Bull. 1890 Golden Days (Philadelphia) 6 Sept. (Cent.), ‘Sic 'em, Andy!’ screamed Granny... The growls and snarls of the fighting animals..made a terrific din. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 19 Sept. 8/2 ‘Sick 'un then’. Now ‘sicking’ a hedgehog is a job which few dogs care to tackle. 1933 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Rebel i. 14 The small white dog, evidently mistaking William's contemptuous ‘Huh!’ for a new form of ‘Sick him!’ gave a low growl and sprang forthwith upon the astonished Wotan. 1952 Wodehouse Barmy in Wonderland v. 53 ‘Sic 'em, Tulip,’ he said. 1977 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 2 Mar. 5/2 All my dogs are attack-trained..but they won't respond to English commands... It's so little kids can't tell him to sic someone. |
2. a. To incite or encourage (a person) to attack. Const. with
on adv. or
prep. Also, to set (a dog or other animal)
on or
at.
| 1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adv. S. Suggs 151 If I was to sick them on your old hoss yonder, they'd eat him up afore you could say Jack Robinson. 1885 Mary N. Murfree Prophet Gt. Smoky Mountains xi, He sick-ed him on all the time. 1892 Kipling & Balestier Naulahka v. 50 Tarvin applauded both parties, sicking one on the other impartially for the first ten minutes. 1899 B. Tarkington Gentl. Indiana viii. 131 Seems some of the boys..sicked the dogs on him. 1909 J. Masefield Tragedy of Nan ii. 28 Hope they'll catch 'im and 'ang 'im. I'd like to sick the dogs at 'em. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xiii. 286 They couldn't run him away if they was to sick them bloodhounds on him. 1977 J. Hodgins Invention of World iii. 75 He threatened to turn the stones into slobbering wolves and sic them on her. |
b. fig. To set (a person) to work
on; to set (a person) to pursue, observe, accompany, etc. (
const. on or
on to).
| 1923 E. B. White Let. 2 Jan. (1976) 62 The Times sicks me on feature stuff because the city editor discovered early in the game that city politics appear only in humorous light to me. 1929 R. Lardner Round Up xxvi. 327 All I told him was that he'd have to let me pick my own roommate after this and not sic no wild man on to me. 1939 Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime i. 18 Why should you barge in here, gnashing your bally teeth, just because Horace sicked Claude Polt, private investigator, on to you? 1958 ‘E. Dundy’ Dud Avocado ii. iv. 221 I'll never forgive you for..sic-ing the sort of person the Contessa is on him. 1958 R. Stout Champagne for One (1959) xiv. 172 He had cleared away some underbrush, for instance who had sicked the cops on Laidlaw. 1972 R. Thomas Porkchoppers (1974) xxviii. 240 Penry works for me. If you need something done..then I'll sic him on it. |
▪ IV. sick obs. f. seek v.;
var. sic a.,
sike.