▪ I. lick, n.
(lɪk)
[f. lick v.]
1. a. An act of licking. Hence quasi-concr. a small quantity, so much as may be had by licking; also lick-up. a lick of goodwill (Sc.), ‘a small portion of meal given for grinding corn, in addition to the fixed multure’ (Jam.). Also (U.S. colloq.) a lick, somewhat, a bit (usu. in neg. contexts).
| 1603 Dekker Grissil (Shaks. Soc.) 16, I knock'd you once, for offering to have a lick at her lips. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. lxxxix. 129 This Woman with one lick of my Antidote (which was mixed with hony)..received ease all over her body. a 1688 Bunyan Jerus. Sinner Saved (1886) 113 Many love Christ with nothing but the lick of the tongue. 1690 Dryden Amphitryon ii. ii. (1691) 21 He could..come galloping home at Midnight to have a lick at the Honey-pot. a 1733 R. North Life F. North 219 He [Jeffries] could not reprehend without scolding; and in such Billinsgate Language, as [etc.]... He call'd it giving a Lick with the rough Side of his Tongue. 1814 Abstract Proof respecting Mill of Inveramsay 3 (Jam.) P. Wilson depones, that he did not measure or weigh the lick of goodwill. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Lick-up, a miserably small pittance of any thing. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 255 ‘Ae wee bit spare rib o' flesh..to be sent roun' lick and lick about’. 1841 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) VI. 62 The polar man..shall not have a lick of oil on Christmas Day. 1853 P. B. St. John Amy Moss 50 Everybody brought ‘sunthin’—some a lick of meal, some a punkin' [etc.]. 1902 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 94 But all day yesterday an' to-day he hain't worked a lick. 1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill vii. 215, I was fool enough to argue with him a bit, trying to see if he didn't have a lick of sense. 1938 C. H. Matschat Suwannee River vii. 110, I knocked him loose an' hit him a lick. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 415 Seven bolls of sapo, a lick of lime, two spurts of fussfor. 1957 W. C. Handy Father of Blues v. 66 We had been complaining violently against an Irishman who couldn't cook a lick. 1971 Black Scholar Sept. 37/2 His grandfather was a preacher and he couldn't read a lick. 1973 Black World Jan. 63/2 His wife Fanny can't cook a lick. 1973 M. & G. Gordon Informant xlix. 188 If you've got a lick of sense, you'll mosey back into the woodwork. |
b. colloq. A slight and hasty wash (usually
a lick and a promise). Also, a dab of paint, etc.; a hasty tidying up, a casual amount of work.
| c 1648 in Maidment Pasquils (1868) 154 We'll mark them with a lick of tarre. a 1771 Gray Candidate 2 When sly Jemmy Twitcher had smugg'd up his face With a lick of court white-wash, and pious grimace. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., A Lick and a Slake. 1860 W. White All round the Wrekin xx. 207 We only gives the cheap ones a lick and a promise. 1899 E. F. Heddle Marget at Manse 43 That lassie gi'es a lick and a promise when I tell her to sweep! 1922 A. Bennett Lilian i. vi. 57 The dirty kitchenmaid was giving the stone floor of the porch a lick and a promise. 1934 L. A. G. Strong Corporal Tune iii. ii. 230 The room, instead of its usual vigorous cleaning, got what Nelly would have called a lick and a promise. 1942 C. Morley Thorofare xl. 355 You ought to be writing the Adventures of a Crustacean. You've only done a lick and a promise. There's six more inches to fill. 1948 M. McCarthy in Partisan Rev. May–June 325 The Dublin Gate players..had a slapdash style of acting that suggested an Irish house⁓maid flailing about with a dust-cloth—they gave their roles a lick and a promise and trusted to the audience's good-nature to take the will for the deed. 1967 V. Lincoln Private Disgrace (1968) xi. 91 She had only a basin of water and a rag with which to give the insides of the windows a lick and a promise. 1969 D. Clark Death after Evensong vi. 142 A pale sun gave Rooksby a lick and a promise of better things to come. 1972 J. Burmeister Running Scared iii. 51 The isolation ward..was given a lick and a promise once a month by an unsupervised maid. |
2. N. Amer. a. A spot to which animals resort to lick the salt or salt earth found there. Also
buffalo-lick,
salt-lick.
| 1747 Virginia Land Patents & Grants in Amer. Speech (1940) XV. 280/2 Crossing the said Run above a Lick. 1750 T. Walker Jrnl. Explor. (1888) 51 At the mouth of a Creek..is a Lick, and I believe there was a hundred Buffaloes at it. 1751 C. Gist Jrnls. (1893) 42 Salt Licks, or Ponds, formed by little Streams or Dreins of Water. 1784 J. F. D. Smyth Tour U.S.A. I. xviii. 141 Licks are particular places..where the clay or earth is impregnated with saline particles. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 663 Salt Lick and Salt Spring are used synonymously, but improperly, as the former differs from the latter in that it is dry. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 219 One of our sergeants shot a deer at a lick close to our camp. a 1816 B. Hawkins Sk. Creek Country (1848) 29 Parallel with this, are some licks in post and red oak saplin flats. 1825 J. Pickering Jrnl. 21 Dec. in Emigration (1830) v. 49 Deer will go miles to the salt spring, or ‘licks’ as they are called. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. v. 78 To rout the unlawful settlers who had gathered nigh the Buffaloe lick in old Kentucky. 1832 J. McGregor Brit. Amer. II. 556 Both buffalo and deer resort to them for the purpose of licking the salt off the shrubs hence the name lick. 1841 J. F. Cooper Deerslayer iv, Like deer standing at a lick. 1877 N. S. Shaler App. to I. A. Allen's Amer. Bison 458 The springs at Big-Bone Lick, as at all the other licks of Kentucky are sources of saline waters derived from the older Palaeozoic rocks. 1957 Beaver Summer 37/2 The goat evidently was headed for the same lick from which the sheep were returning. |
b. = lick-log.
| 1920 Webster Lick, an artificial saline preparation given to sheep and cattle to lick. c 1920 W. D. Powdrell Dairy Farming N.Z. v. 38 A lick of rock-salt should be provided. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. July 67/3 By using cobalt either as a topdressing, as a drench, or in licks all classes of stock could be run without any trouble [on this cobalt-deficient country]. 1963 Times 4 Feb. 4/7 A large feed block or lick is made available to cattle. |
3. A complaint in horses (see
quot.).
| 1827 Sporting Mag. XX. 162 Coach horses are subject to symptoms known by the appellation of ‘the Lick’... They lick each other's skins, and gnaw their halters into pieces. |
4. a. A smart blow. (
Cf. to lick on the whip, cited from
c 1460.) Also
pl. (
Sc. and
north.), a beating, in
phr. to get one's licks,
give (one) his licks.
| 1678 J. Phillips Tavernier's Trav. vi. 77 [He] gave the fellow half a dozen good licks with his cane. 1724 Swift Wood's Execution Wks. 1755 V. ii. 155, 3rd Cook. I'll give him a lick in the chops. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, To lend his loving wife a loundering lick. 1785 Burns To W. Simpson Postscr. vii, An' monie a fallow gat his licks, Wi' hearty crunt. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 79 Unless either of them gave him a lick on the head. 1820 Scott Abbot vii, The dread of a lick should not hold me back. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 165 Every callant in the class could gie him his licks. 1837 S. Lover Rory O'More (1849) 13 We're used to a lick of a stick every day. 1887 Schoolmaster 15 Jan. 104/1 The boy..deponed that the master gave him twa licks in the lug. 1894 Crockett Lilac Sunbonnet 103 The yin that got his licks fell down and bit the dust. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1739 Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 28 A lick at the Laureat will always be sure bait..to catch him little readers. 1794 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode to For. Soldiers Wks. 1812 III. 247 A Lick at the French Convention. 1803 Naval Chron. X. 258 The tars are wishing for a lick, as they call it, at the Spanish galleons. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xviii, ‘I wish I had had a lick at them with the gun first’, he replied. |
5. Sc. ‘A wag, one who plays upon another’ (
Jam.).
| 1725 Willie was a wanton Wag in Whitelaw Bk. Sc. Songs (1844) 20/1 And was na Willie a great loun, As shyre a lick as e'er was seen. a 1758 Ramsay Grub-street 5 He's naething but a shire daft lick. |
6. dial.,
colloq.,
U.S. Austral., and
N.Z. A spurt at racing, a short brisk spin; a ‘spell’ of work.
big licks = hard work. Also speed, in
phr. at full lick,
at a great lick, etc.
The
phr. to go (or run, etc.) for the lick of one's life appears to be restricted to Australia and
N.Z.| 1809 T. Donaldson Poems 135 Ere I get a pick, In comes young Nannie wi' a lick. 1835 Gent's. Vade Mecum (Philadelphia) 14 Feb. 3/4 When you come to put in the scientific licks, I squat. 1837 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xv, That are colt can beat him for a lick of a quarter of a mile. 1847 W. T. Porter Quarter Race 104 He went up the opposite bank at the same lick, and disappeared. 1847 J. S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 106 He was puttin' in the biggest kind a licks in the way of courtin'. 1851 ― in T. A. Burke Polly Peablossom's Wedding 111, I saw comin' my gray mule, puttin' in her best licks, and a few yards behind her was a grizzly. 1861 Bryant Songs from Dixie's Land 26 At length I went to mining, put in my biggest licks. 1868 Putnam's Mag. June 715/1 The father..did an occasional ‘lick of work’ for some well-to-do neighbor. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. iv. 79, I..made up my mind to stay in America, till I'd done some big licks in the sporting line. 1889 P. H. Emerson Eng. Idyls 26 Down the river..came sailing the..whery..ay! going at full lick too. 1889 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms 82 It'll be a short life and a merry one, though, dad, if we go on big licks like this. 1892 Dialect Notes I. 230 To mend one's licks, to quicken one's steps. ‘When the dog got after me, I mended my licks.’ 1898 F. T. Bullen Cruise Cachalot 218 The recipient, thoroughly roused by this, starting off at a great lick. 1905 Dialect Notes III. 86 You'll have to hit a different lick, if you expect to accomplish anything. 1906 H. D. Pittman Belle of Bluegrass Country xv. 224 I'll have to take care of the whole gang, and never get a lick of work out of one of them. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August (1933) i. 7 She's hitting that lick like she's been at it for a right smart while. 1934 J. Masefield Taking of Gry 43 ‘They're [ships] going a good lick, sir,’ I said. 1938 Amer. Speech XIII. 6/1 Lick n., an easy job. ‘None of these jobs is a lick.’ 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target i. v. 46 ‘Go for the lick of your life down the lane,’ commanded Rangi. 1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 84 With all of us going for lick of our lives, there'd only be time for a wisecrack now and then. 1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams (1963) xviii. 203 Clive ran..full lick into the sea. 1949 Marshfield (Wisconsin) News-Herald 19 July 4/1 The power lobby got in its licks through a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee passing on the bill for funds for the Department of Interior. 1951 L. MacNeice tr. Goethe's Faust i. 33 Lord, these strapping wenches they go a lick! 1966 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 3 Apr. 6/3 A section of the miners agreed that the happiest solution to the sorry affair would be to lynch Mr. Chapple. The little Cornishman got wind of this thinking and, treating it seriously..went for the lick of his life. 1974 P. Ruell Death takes Low Road x. 127 Caroline contrived to be first down the gangway and set off along the quay at a good lick. |
7. a. In jazz, dance-music, etc.: a short solo or phrase,
usu. improvised and often interpolated into a piece of written music;
= break n.1 9 c;
freq. in
phr. hot lick (
cf. hot a. 8 g).
| 1932 Melody Maker June 509 They manage to steal a ‘lick’ from an American record. 1933 Metronome Apr. 29 Please do not..think I want ‘hot licks’ to memorize in all keys. 1933 Fortune Aug. 47/1 His licks (musical phrases) are original. 1935 [see go v. 22 b]. 1935 [see ad lib. B adj.]. 1935 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Nov. 38/3 Hot artists..add their licks to the exciting music that flourishes there. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) xix. 237 The panic was on to push vibrato aside, pick up his licks, and produce his sound. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. 27/3 The blues riff is even better, full of Charlie Parker⁓like bebop licks. |
b. Plan, idea.
U.S. colloq.| 1955 S. Allen Bop Fables 54 So here's the lick. Take this beat-up bovine to market. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 76 Lick, plan, idea, outline of a situation. |
Add:
[4.] c. pl. Adverse comments; criticism, censure, condemnation.
Cf. knock n.1 1 b.
U.S. colloq.| 1971 Torch 18 Dec. 4/2 Someone thought they should set him up to get his share of licks and so eliminate him or level off his chances in the ministerial stakes. 1977 Time 24 Jan. 4/1 Barbra Streisand's A Star is Born does not deserve the licks it has got from Jay Cocks. 1987 Time 11 May 12/1 He and his..Socialist Movement have been taking their licks. |
▪ II. lick, v. (
lɪk)
Forms: 1
liccian, 2–6
lik, 4–5
like,
lyke, 3–7
licke(n, 4–6
likke, 5–6
lycke,
lykke, (5
lykkyn), 6–
lick.
[OE. liccian = OS. liccôn, leccôn (Du. likken), OHG. leckôn (MHG., mod.G. lecken):—OTeut. *likkôn (whence It. leccare, F. lécher), prob. repr. pre-Teut. *lighnā-, f. OAryan root *ligh- (: leigh-: loigh-), found in Goth. (bi)laigôn, Gr. λείχειν to lick, λίχνος dainty, L. lingĕre, OIrish ligim, OSl. ližati, Lith. lëżti, Skr. rih, lih to lick.] 1. trans. a. To pass the tongue over (something),
e.g. with the object of tasting, moistening the surface, or removing something from it.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives (1885) I. 114 Ða reðan deor..heora liða liccodon mid liðra tungan. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 270. 320 Þo he i-saiȝ ane leon licke þat bodi. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xlv. (Cristine) 261 Þe serpentis hire fete can lyke. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 29 Thei [dogges] were about her mouthe and liked it. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xvii, [The asse] beganne to kysse and to lykke hym. 1592 G. Harvey Four Lett. Wks. (Grosart) I. 206 To seek his dinner in poules with Duke humfrey: to licke dishes, to be a beggar. a 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 456 Must God then lacke the due attendance of the people in His house, while they are licking of thy trenchers? 1712 Steele Spect. No. 431 ¶3, I left off eating of Pipes, and fell to licking of Chalk. 1732 Pope Ess. Man I. 84 Pleas'd to the last, he crops the flow'ry food, And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood. 1792 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Wks. III. 4 The man I hate.. Who, to complete his dinner, licks his plate. 1798 Sir M. Eden in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 423 They continue to cringe and to lick the hand that strikes them. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am i, Tim stands on end, and licks the wanderer's face. 1885 Truth 28 May 844/1 The danger of licking adhesive stamps and envelopes. |
| absol. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 295 Lik not with þy tonge in a disch. 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 1091 While ane pat doun his hand and lickit. a 1592 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 462 When Jonathan saw honey dropping, he must needs be licking. 1694 Salmon Bate's Dispens. (1713) 128/2 Mix for a Dose..and to be lick'd of..as need requires. 1890 L. D'Oyle Notches 60 The elk..was now ‘licking’ in the little side-valley. |
b. Frequent in phrases expressive of actions referred to
allusively or
fig., as
to lick one's fingers,
to lick one's lips, an action indicating keen relish or delighted anticipation of some dainty morsel;
† to lick (another's) fingers,
to lick the fat from (one's) beard, to cheat (him) of his gains;
† to lick one's knife, said of a parsimonious person;
to lick the ground,
to lick (another's) boots or shoe or spittle (
cf. lick-spittle n.), actions expressive of abject servility;
† to lick (a patron's) trencher, said of a parasite;
to lick the dust,
† lick the earth [a Hebraism:
Vulg. terram lingere], to fall prostrate, to suffer defeat;
to lick the (or one's, etc.) chops (
Jazz slang), to tune up or warm up before a ‘session’.
| a 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxi[i]. 9 His feondas foldan lic⁓ciȥeað. 1382 Wyclif Ps. lxxi[i]. 9 His enemys the erthe shul licken. ― Micah vii. 17 Thei shuln lick dust as the serpent. c 1400 Rom. Rose 6502 What shulde he yeve that likketh his knyf. 1500 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 396 Thou sall lik thy lippis, and suere thou leis. 1530 Palsgr. 609/2, I lycke my lippes or fyngers after swete meate. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 169 b, Marchantes within the citee, sore abhorryng the Italian nation, for lickyng the fat from their beardes, and taking from them their livyng. 1555 Eden Decades 104 [They] with no lesse confydence licke their lippes secreately in hope of their praye. 1602 Withals' Dict. 263 A fellow that can licke his Lordes or his ladies trencher in one smooth tale or merrie lie, and picke their purses in another. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 27 How does thy honour? Let me licke thy shooe. 1646 J. Whitaker Uzziah 24 Have you not known some in a low condition, to bow and scrape, lick the spittle on the ground. 1656 Ld. Hatton in Nicholas Papers (Camden) III. 284 He purposeth not to deale at all with my cosen Kertons frends, vnless it be for mault, and that too in an honorable and considerable way without licking my fingars. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 526 Oft he [the serpent] bowd His turret Crest..and lick'd the ground whereon she trod. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 5 ¶2 Sparrows for the Opera, says his Friend, licking his Lips, what, are they to be roasted? 1808 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XIII. 1009 He should have learnt to lick spittle, and have drilled himself to crawl upon his belly. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. lv. (1896) 162 He found the surly inn⁓keepers licked the very ground before him now. 1890 Kipling Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) 23 An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it. 1909 G. B. Shaw Press Cuttings 9 And now comes this unmannerly young whelp Chubbs-Jenkinson, the only son of what they call a soda-king, and orders a curate to lick his boots. 1930 ― Apple Cart i. 34, I had rather be a dog than the Prime Minister of a country where the only things the inhabitants can be serious about are football and refreshments. Lick the king's boots: that is all you are fit for. 1937 [see cat n.1 2 c]. 1937 {Eacu}tude Dec. 835/1 Licking their chops, getting warmed up to swing. 1959 J. Braine Vodi x. 138 He had to use his..willingness to lick anyone's boots, no matter how dirty, to get the money. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 77 Licking the chops, the tuning up musicians do before a jam session. 1974 Guardian 19 Dec. 10/2 If Lifestyle (BBC-2) keeps licking boots like this, Cherry Blossom will sprout out of its ears. |
c. in proverbial sayings.
| 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1438 Wele wotith the cat whos berde she likkith. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1545) 19 He is an euyll cooke that can not lycke his owne fyngers. 1619 Hollybande Fr. Schoolem. 100 b. 1822 Scott Nigel vi, They say, a good cook knows how to lick his own fingers. |
d. With adverbs,
e.g. over; to take
in or
up by licking. With
away,
† forth,
off,
out, and with
prep. off: To remove by licking.
| a 1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 185 Huni þer in beoþ liked of þornes. a 1300 Cursor M. 2858 Þan es sco [Lot's wife, or the pillar of salt] liked al a-way. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 93 Hanibal likked venym of his owne rynge. c 1440 Jacob's Well 247 Þe bysschop wyth his tunge lykkyd it out lowly. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 40 And oft thay [the doggis] did this catiue man refresche Lickand the fylth furth of his laithlie flesche. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 632 My Hell-hounds, to lick up the draff and filth. 1721 Ramsay Prospect Plenty ix, O'er lang, in troth, have we by-standers been, And loot fowk lick the white out of our een. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 77 Their [cows] practice of licking off their hair. Ibid. VII. 175 The serpent..was seen to lick the whole body over. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. I. Praise Chimneysw., It was a pleasure to see the sable younkers lick in the unctuous meat. |
e. With complementary
adj. expressing the result,
e.g. to lick clean.
† to lick whole: to heal of wounds or sores by licking; in
quots. fig.| c 1550 Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893) 32 If anie men haue licked theim selues whole youe be the same. 1596 Bp. W. Barlow Three Serm. i. 129 Who vnder a shew of licking them whole, suck out euen their hart blood. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 366 It is not a limme of Satan which is wounded; he might then licke himselfe whole. 1670 Ray Prov. 211 And yet betwixt them both, they lick't the platters clean. 1681 Dryden Sp. Fryar ii. iii, If there were no more in Excommunication than the Church's Censure, a wise Man wou'd lick his Conscience whole with a wet Finger. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iv. vi, He would quickly lick him⁓self whole again, by his vails. |
† 2. To lap with the tongue; to drink, sip. Also
intr. constr.
of,
on.
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1521 So long likked þise lordes þise lykores swete. 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings xxi. 19 In this place, in the which houndis lickiden the blood of Naboth, shulen lick and thi blood. a 1400–50 Alexander 3826 Sum of his awen vryn & sum on Iren lickid. 1513 Douglas æneis VIII. Prol. 139 Sum langis for the liffyr ill to lik of ane quart. 1535 Coverdale Judg. vii. 5 Whosoeuer licketh of the water with his tunge, as a dogg licketh. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus 100 The Cat would licke milke, but she will not wette her feete. 1791 Cowper Iliad xxi. 148 Lie there, and feed the fishes, which shall lick Thy blood secure. |
3. transf. and
fig. (from 1 and 2).
a. Of persons and animals. Formerly in many specialized uses.
† to lick up (an enemy's forces): to destroy, ‘annihilate’ (after
Num. xxii. 4).
† to lick (a person) of something: to cheat, ‘fleece’.
† to lick the letter: to use alliteration.
† to lick of the whip: to have a taste of punishment.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 378 In fayth and for youre long taryyng Ye shal lik on the whyp. [1535 Coverdale Num. xxii. 4 Now shal this heape licke up all that is aboute vs, euen as an oxe licketh vp the grasse in the field.] 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 126 Yet sometyme thei wer slain, taken, and licked vp, or thei were ware. 1557 in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) III. 388 Three hundred of them [Gascons] be licked up by the way. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 259 b, They confesse the craft themselues, wherby they licked vs of our money. 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie i. iv. 188 A crewe..That lick the tail of greatnesse with their lips. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 34 The English and Welsh delighted much in licking the letter. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. ix. 391 Hypocrites rather then they will lose a drop of praise will lick it up with their own tongue. 1647 Trapp Comm. Ep. & Rev. App. 690 Till he had licked of the whip, and learned better language. 1726 Life Penn in Wks. 1782 I. 136 Those very lies..which himself had now licked up afresh. |
b. Of inanimate agents (chiefly waves, flame, etc.): To lap, play lightly over, etc.; to take
up (moisture, etc.) in passing over. Sometimes with personification.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 276 Seo lyft liccað and atyhð ðone wætan of ealre eorþan. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 149 Untill the sunne or the wind have licked the tops of the grasse and flowers. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. III. 698 Feavers..rack their Limbs, and lick the vital Heat. 1827 Pollok Course T. III, Consumption licked her blood. 1856 J. H. Newman Callista 154 The tide of human beings..licking the base of the hill, rushed vehemently on one side. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Dec. xxvi, An upleaping jet Of cold Cocytus, which for ever licks Earth's base. 1891 T. Hardy Tess II. xxiv, The wheels..licked up the pulverized surface of the highway. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs I. 45 The flames..ruthlessly licked up everything in their path of destruction. 1900 Blackw. Mag. July 59/2 Fires had consumed the underbrush and licked the branches off the giant trees. |
c. Sc. to lick one's winning(s: To make the best of one's bargain.
| 1776 C. Keith Farmer's Ha' (1796) 144 But now let us our winning lick (He cry'd in pet). 1794 Burns ‘O merry hae I been’ 9 Bitter in dool I lickit my winnins, O' marrying Bess, to gie her a slave. |
4. to lick (a person or thing) into (shape, etc.), also
† to lick over: To give form and regularity to; to mould, make presentable. Alluding to the alleged practice of bears with their young (see
quots.).
| [1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxiv. 70 Beres ben brought forthe al fowle and transformyd and after that by lyckynge of the fader and the moder they ben brought in to theyr kyndely shap.] 1612 Chapman Widowes T. Wks. 1873 III. 31 He has not licked his whelp into full shape yet. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. (1676) 7/2 Enforced, as a Bear doth her Whelps, to bring forth this confused lump, I had not time to lick it into form. a 1639 Wotton in Reliq. (1685) 444 The Author hath licked them [verses] over. 1699 Burnet 39 Art. xxviii. (1700) 339 Men did not know how to mould and frame it; but at last it was licked into shape. 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 4 The play is writ, the Players upon the recommendation of those that lick'd it over, like their parts to a Fondness. 1780 Wesley Wks. (1872) IX. 509 Mr. Law, by taking immense pains, has licked it into some shape. 1862 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 132, I shall have trouble enough in licking her [a young servant] into shape. 1891 Spectator 12 Dec. 837 Their proposals..would be licked, by debate..into practicable shape. |
5. Contemptuously used for: To smear with cosmetics; to varnish, to smarten with paint; to ‘sleek’, give smooth finish to (a picture).
| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 99 Spending a whole forenoone euerie day in spunging and licking himselfe by the glasse. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Lickt, Pictures new Varnished, Houses new Whitened, or Women's Faces with a Wash. 1853 T. Taylor Life B.R. Haydon III. 212 Modern cartoons with few exceptions are licked (smoothed) and polished intentionally. |
6. slang.
a. To beat, thrash. Also, to drive (something)
out of (a person) by thrashing.
† to lick off: to cut off clean, to slice off.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 144 Leggis war likkit of hard of at the kne. 1567 Harman Caveat s.v. (Farmer), Lycke, to beate. 1719 Ramsay To Hamilton vi, May I be licket wi' a bittle, Gin of your numbers I think little. 1732 Fielding Mock Doctor i. ii, Suppose I've a mind he should drub, Whose bones are they, Sir, he's to lick? 1775 F. Burney Diary, Let. to Mr. Crisp 19 Nov., As for..your father, I could lick him for his affected coolness and moderation. 1828 Darwin in Life & Lett. (1888) I. 167 How these poor dogs must have been licked. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. viii. (1871) 109 Say you won't fag—they'll soon get tired of licking you. 1879 Spurgeon Serm. XXV. 542 Almost as free as America in the olden time, when every man was free to lick his own nigger. 1881 Atlantic Monthly XLIX. 41 Well, I've tried to lick the badness out of him... You can, out of some boys, you know. |
b. To overcome, get the better of; to excel, surpass.
it licks me: I cannot explain it. Also
to lick into fits: to defeat thoroughly.
| 1800 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. IV. 232 By Dane, Saxon, or Pict We had never been lick'd Had we stuck to the king of the island. 1836 F. B. Head Let. in Smiles Mem. J. Murray (1891) II. xxxi. 366, I believe we shall lick the radicals. 1847 De Quincey Milton v. Southey & Landor Wks. (1859) XII. 179 Greece was..proud..of having licked him [an enemy]. 1879 E. Walford Londiniana I. 37 If we have a war and beat Russia or lick Abyssinia into fits. 1889 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxiv, It licked me to think it had been hid away all the time. 1890 ― Col. Reformer (1891) 195 As a seller of unparalleled generosity, we can't be licked. 1900 Speaker 8 Sept. 618 We must either lick and rule these savages or run away. |
| absol. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xii. (1889) 114, I believe that a gentleman will always lick in a fair fight. |
7. slang (
orig. dial.: widespread outside the
U.K.).
intr. To run, ride, or move at full speed. Also in the
U.S.,
to lick it.
| 1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-Yah i. 16 The mad animal..charged. How they did ‘lick it’ over the ground! 1856 J. Collie Poems 124 Sae aff gaed Death what he cou'd lick. 1886 Outing Dec. 198/1 He'd nothin' ter do but ter lick it like blazes, with the little dog a-follerin' along. 1889 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxi, A horseman..rattled down the stony track as hard as he could lick. 1903 J. Lumsden Toorle iv. i. 76 Jock! lick awa' in, an' blaw up. 1947 ‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 80 He sped her [sc. a car] along. Boy, she can lick. 1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 169/1 As hard as one can lick, as fast as one can go. To lick along, to go fast. 1966 W. S. Ramson Austral. Eng. iv. 65 To lick, meaning ‘to travel fast’ and common in..as hard as one can lick. |
8. Combs.:
lick-box nonce-wd. ?
= lick-dish;
lick-fingers, one who licks his fingers (used as a term of abuse);
lick-foot nonce-wd., the action of licking the feet, servility;
† lick-halter (see
quot.);
lick-hole Austral., a place where lick-logs are placed for stock to lick;
lick-ladle, a parasite;
lick-log, a block of salt for cattle to lick;
to stand up to one's lick-logs, to make a firm stand;
lick-ma-dowp Sc. nonce-wd., a sycophant;
lick-platter, a parasite;
lick-sauce = lick-dish;
lick-spit = lick-spittle;
lick-trencher = lick-platter;
lick-up, (
a) something that licks up (see
quot. 1844); (
b) something ‘licked’ into shape (see
quot. 1851–61); (
c) used
attrib. to designate a type of paper-making machine (see
quots.). Also
lick-dish, lick-penny, lick-pot,
lick-spigot,
lick-spittle.
| 1611 Cotgr., Liche-casse, a *lick-box, a sweet-lips. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais ii. xxx, Achilles was a scauld pated maker of hay bundles, Agamemnon a lick-box. |
| 1595 Locrine iii. iv. F 2 b, You stopsauce, *lickfingers, will you not heare? [1625 B. Jonson Staple News, The Persons of the Play, Lick⁓finger, a Master Cooke, and parcell Poet.] |
| 1630 ― New Inn ii. ii, No flattery for't, No *lick-foot, pain of losing your proboscis. |
| 1611 Florio, Lecca fune, a *licke-halter, a knauish wag, a gallowes-clapper. |
| 1928 ‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country ix. 143 No horse..was safe..in the *lick-hole country of its myriad spring-heads. Pool found a way with rock-salt to make the lick-holes a trap. 1936 M. Franklin All that Swagger xvi. 148 A hint without evidence is a snake in the grass, like that boomer you dispatched to-day at the lickhole. |
| 1849 James Woodman ii, ‘Who and what is he?’ ‘A *lickladle of the court, lady’. |
| 1834 D. Crockett Narr. Life 170, I was determined to stand up to my *lick-log, salt or no salt. 1840 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. iii. xii, I like a man to be up to the notch, and stand to his lick-log. 1852 G. W. L. Bickley Hist. Tazewell County 226 Capt. Moore..was at a lick log..salting his horses of which he had many. 1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 105 Small troughs were cut in the trunk of a fallen tree and occasionally salt was placed there, making what was known as a ‘lick log’. |
| 1724 Ramsay Vision xxiii, Quhen thus redust to howps, They dander, and wander About pure *lickmadowps. |
| 1853 Lytton My Novel vi. xxiii. II. 186 No *lick-platter, no parasite, no toadeater. |
| 1822 T. Mitchell Aristoph. II. 302 Him..who has A smutty tale for ev'ry rich man's table? *Lickspit and flatterer both! 1833 S. Austin Charac. Goethe II. 35 To play..the lickspit about the court of Weimar. |
| 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. To Rdr. 9 Not onely *licktrenchers but also claw backs, which curry fauour with great men by their false appeachings. 1787 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode upon Ode Wks. 1816 I. 298 Butlers and lick-trenchers. |
| 1844 Mech. Mag. XL. 47 [Of Silver plating.] When cool the hammer is allowed to fall upon the lead, to which it firmly adheres by means of a plate roughed as a rasp, which is called the *lick-up. 1851–61 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 34 A ‘lick-up’ is a boot or shoe re-lasted to take the wrinkles out..and then blacked up to hide blemishes. 1929 Clapperton & Henderson Mod. Paper-Making xv. 212 The ‘lick-up’ machine may have either a vat or Fourdrinier wet end, but it does not possess a wet press... On this type of machine the underside of the web sticks to the cylinder and receives the polished surface. 1952 F. H. Norris Paper & Paper Making xv. 208 The ‘lick up’ type of machine..may have either a cylinder mould to pick up the stuff out of a vat and form the paper as on a board machine, or it may have the normal Fourdrinier wet end. On a ‘lick up’ machine, the wet felt also acts as an over⁓felt, and as there is no wet press, the web is transferred to the wet felt at the top couch roll. |
Add:
[3.] [b.] Also
intr. with
adv. or
advb. phr. indicating direction (
esp. with
at). (Later examples.)
| 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 572/2 The swish of the water licking sloppily against the yacht's side. a 1961 in Webster s.v., The surf licked at the seawall. 1979 N. Wallington Fireman! i. 19 High over a roof leaping flames were now clearly visible, licking skyward. 1987 New Yorker 26 Jan. 28/1 Abe looked out their bedroom window..and saw a small flame licking at the edge of the ashes. |
[6.] c. transf. To solve (a problem or puzzle); to overcome, transcend (a difficulty). Chiefly
U.S.| 1946 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh iv. 225 You've finally got the game of life licked. 1957 A. Stevenson New Amer. iii. iv. 151 We have never yet in this country met a problem we couldn't lick, and we have come through every crisis stronger than we went in. 1974 E. Bowen Henry & Other Heroes ii. 30 She had me licked before we started. 1985 Yeager & Janos Yeager (1986) 161 We had licked the elevator problem. |