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# tick

noun (a tick, ticks); verb (tick, ticks, ticked, ticking)

«tick» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A tick is a mark (✓) that shows something is right or done; Americans usually call it a check mark. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m1)
2. A tick is the short sound a clock makes each second. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m2)
3. A tick is a tiny eight-legged creature that bites animals and people and sucks their blood. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m3)
4. To tick means to make a tick mark, or to make the ticking sound. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m4)
5. «In a tick» (British) means in a moment. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m5)
6. To tick can also mean to work or run well, as a machine or a person does. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m6)

### In the lessons

In school, the teacher ticks correct answers and children tick boxes on forms and checklists. In time lessons, a clock ticks once a second, 60 ticks in a minute. In nature and safety, ticks live in long grass and woods; after a walk, check your skin (especially behind knees and ears) and ask an adult to remove a tick carefully, because some ticks carry diseases like Lyme disease. Phrases: tick the box, tick off, tick-tock, in a tick, what makes someone tick.

### Examples

- The teacher put a tick next to every right answer. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x1)
- Tick the box if you agree. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x2)
- I can hear the clock ticking. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x3)
- Check for ticks after walking in long grass. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x4)
- Dad removed a tick from the dog's ear. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x5)
- I'll be ready in a tick! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x6)
- Tick off each item on the list as you pack it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x7)
- A tick is not an insect; it has eight legs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x8)
- He ticked superbly, but with one unforeseen result. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#x9)

### Note

In British English, a right answer gets a tick (✓) and a wrong one gets a cross (✗); in American English, a check mark. Ticks are related to spiders (eight legs), not insects (six legs). «What makes him tick» means what makes him behave as he does.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «tick» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«tick» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tick.html) on Mova free.