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Webster 1913 Edition

Tickle

Tic′kle

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Tickled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Tickling
.]
[Perhaps freq. of
tick
to beat; pat; but cf. also AS.
citelian
to tickle, D.
kittelen
, G.
kitzlen
, OHG.
chizzilōn
,
chuzzilōn
, Icel.
kitla
. Cf.
Kittle
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
To touch lightly, so as to produce a peculiar thrilling sensation, which commonly causes laughter, and a kind of spasm which become dangerous if too long protracted.
If you
tickle
us, do we not laugh?
Shakespeare
2.
To please; to gratify; to make joyous.
Pleased with a rattle,
tickled
with a straw.
Pope.
Such a nature
Tickled
with good success, disdains the shadow
Which he treads on at noon.
Shakespeare

Tic′kle

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To feel titillation.
He with secret joy therefore
Did
tickle
inwardly in every vein.
Spenser.
2.
To excite the sensation of titillation.
Shak.

Tic′kle

,
Adj.
1.
Ticklish; easily tickled.
[Obs.]
2.
Liable to change; uncertain; inconstant.
[Obs.]
The world is now full
tickle
, sikerly.
Chaucer.
So
tickle
is the state of earthy things.
Spenser.
3.
Wavering, or liable to waver and fall at the slightest touch; unstable; easily overthrown.
[Obs.]
Thy head stands so
tickle
on thy shoulders, that a milkmaid, if she be in love, may sigh it off.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Tickle

TICK'LE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. titillo, corrupted.]
1.
To touch lightly and cause a peculiar thrilling sensation, which cannot be described. A slight sensation of this kind may give pleasure, but when violent it is insufferable.
2.
To please by slight gratification. A glass of wine may tickle the palate.
Such a nature
Tickled with good success.

TICK'LE

,
Verb.
I.
To feel titillation.
He with secret joy therefore
Did tickle inwardly in every vein.

TICK'LE

,
Adj.
Tottering; wavering, or liable to waver and fall at the slightest touch; unstable; easily overthrown.
Thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders, that a milkmaid, if in love, may sign it off.
The state of Normandy
Stands on a tickle point.
[This word is wholly obsolete, at least in N. England. Ticklish is the word used.]

Definition 2024

tickle

tickle

English

Noun

tickle ‎(plural tickles)

  1. The act of tickling.
  2. A feeling resembling the result of tickling.
    I have a persistent tickle in my throat.
  3. (Newfoundland) A narrow strait.
    • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 169:
      Cow Head itself is a prominent headland connected to the settlement by a natural causeway, or ‘tickle’ as the Newfoundlanders prefer it.

Verb

tickle ‎(third-person singular simple present tickles, present participle tickling, simple past and past participle tickled)

  1. (transitive) To touch repeatedly or stroke delicately in a manner which causes laughter and the recipient to feel a usually pleasant sensation of tingling or titillation.
    He tickled Nancy's tummy, and she started to giggle.
    • Shakespeare
      If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
  2. (intransitive, of a body part) To feel as if the body part in question is being tickled.
    My nose tickles, and I'm going to sneeze!
  3. (transitive) To appeal to someone's taste, curiosity etc.
  4. (transitive) To cause delight or amusement in.
    He was tickled to receive such a wonderful gift.
    • Alexander Pope
      Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.
    • Shakespeare
      Such a nature / Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow / Which he treads on at noon.
  5. (intransitive) To feel titillation.
    • Spenser
      He with secret joy therefore / Did tickle inwardly in every vein.
  6. (transitive) To catch fish in the hand (usually in rivers or smaller streams) by manually stimulating the fins [often illegal]

Quotations

  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:tickle.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

tickle ‎(comparative more tickle, superlative most tickle)

  1. Changeable, capricious; insecure.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
      So ticle be the termes of mortall state, / And full of subtile sophismes, which do play / With double senses, and with false debate [...].

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken ‎(“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick +‎ -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian ‎(“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele ‎(“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle ‎(“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen ‎(“to excite; stir up”). Compare also Middle English kitlelen ("to tickle"; see kittle).

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɪkəl

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