- stick
- I [[t]stɪ̱k[/t]]
NOUN USES
♦♦♦sticks1) N-COUNT A stick is a thin branch which has fallen off a tree.
...people carrying bundles of dried sticks to sell for firewood.
Syn:2) N-COUNT A stick is a long thin piece of wood which is used for supporting someone's weight or for hitting people or animals.→ See also carrot and stickHe looks old, has diabetes and walks with a stick...
Crowds armed with sticks and stones took to the streets.
3) N-COUNT: usu n N A stick is a long thin piece of wood which is used for a particular purpose....kebab sticks.
...lolly sticks.
...drum sticks.
4) N-COUNT: usu n N Some long thin objects that are used in sports are called sticks....lacrosse sticks.
...hockey sticks.
...ski-sticks.
...a stick of celery.
...cinnamon sticks.
6) N-UNCOUNT If you give someone some stick, you criticize them or tease them roughly. [BRIT, INFORMAL]It's not motorists who give you the most stick, it's the general public...
I get some stick from the lads because of my faith but I don't mind.
7) N-PLURAL: the N (disapproval) If you say that someone lives in the sticks, you mean that they live a long way from any large cities. [INFORMAL]He lived out in the sticks somewhere.
8) PHRASE If you say that something is a stick to beat someone with, you mean that it is used, or could be used, as a basis for criticism. [JOURNALISM]Unfortunately historic American fiction is constantly being used as a stick to beat contemporary British writers with.
9) PHRASE: V inflects If someone gets the wrong end of the stick or gets hold of the wrong end of the stick, they do not understand something correctly and get the wrong idea about it. [INFORMAL]10) PHRASE (emphasis) If you say that there are more things than you could or can shake a stick at, you are emphasizing in a humorous way that there are a lot of them. [INFORMAL]II [[t]stɪ̱k[/t]] VERB USES...a man with more medals than you can shake a stick at.
♦♦sticks, sticking, stuck(Please look at category 13 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.)1) VERB If you stick something somewhere, you put it there in a rather casual way. [INFORMAL][V n prep/adv] He folded the papers and stuck them in his desk drawer...
[V n prep/adv] Jack opened his door and stuck his head out.
2) V-ERG If you stick a pointed object in something, or if it sticks in something, it goes into it or through it by making a cut or hole.[V n in/into/through n] They sent in loads of male nurses and stuck a needle in my back...
[V n in/into/through n] Some punk stuck a knife in her last night...
[V n in/into/through n] The soldiers went at once to the mound and began to stick their bayonets through it...
[V in n] The knife stuck in the ground at his feet.
3) VERB If something is sticking out from a surface or object, it extends up or away from it. If something is sticking into a surface or object, it is partly in it.[V adv/prep] They lay where they had fallen from the crane, sticking out of the water...
[V adv/prep] Something was sticking from the pocket of the little man's grimy shorts...
[V adv/prep] His hair sticks up in half a dozen directions.
[V adv/prep] ...when we see her with lots of tubes and needles sticking into her little body.
4) VERB If you stick one thing to another, you attach it using glue, sticky tape, or another sticky substance.[V n prep] Don't forget to clip the token and stick it on your card...
[V n prep] We just stuck it to the window...
[V n with adv] He has nowhere to stick up his posters...
[V n with adv] Stick down any loose bits of flooring.
5) VERB If one thing sticks to another, it becomes attached to it and is difficult to remove.[V to n] The soil sticks to the blade and blocks the plough...
[V to n] Peel away the waxed paper if it has stuck to the bottom of the cake...
[V together] If left to stand, cooked pasta sticks together.
Syn:6) VERB If something sticks in your mind, you remember it for a long time.[V in n] The incident stuck in my mind because it was the first example I had seen of racism in that country...
[V in n] That song has stuck in my head for years.
7) VERB If you give someone or something a name and the name sticks, it becomes the name which most people use to refer to that person or thing.A friend dubbed it `The Sanctuary' and the name stuck.
8) VERB: no cont, with brd-neg If someone manages to make a charge or accusation stick, they show that the person accused is guilty of the crime or action they are accused of.I don't see how they'll make the charges stick...
But legal experts are not sure if such a charge can stick.
9) VERB If something which can usually be moved sticks, it becomes fixed in one position.The needle on the dial went right round to fifty feet, which was as far as it could go, and there it stuck...
The dagger stuck tightly in the silver scabbard.
10) VERB If you are in an unpleasant or difficult situation and you say that you cannot stick it, you mean that you cannot bear to remain there long. [BRIT, INFORMAL][V n] Got a job bottle-washing at the brewery. I lasted a fortnight. I couldn't stick it...
[V n] How long did you stick it for?
Syn:11) → See also stuck12) PHRASE (feelings) If you say that someone can stick something, especially a job, or if you tell them where to stick it, you are rudely refusing it or emphasizing that you do not want it or like it. [INFORMAL, RUDE]It's a rotten play, so they can stick it...
She then stormed out in a temper telling him to `stick his job'.
Phrasal Verbs:- stick at- stick by- stick to
English dictionary. 2008.
