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Added 4 October 2026

stick

/stɪk/ noun

Categories: ThingsPlantsEveryday Words

In Latin: rudis, virga Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stick at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
    The beaver's dam was made out of sticks.
  2. A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch.
    The beaver's dam was made out of sticks.
  3. A relatively long, thin piece of wood, of any size.
    I found several good sticks in the brush heap.

verb

  1. To cut a piece of wood to be the stick member of a cope-and-stick joint.
  2. To compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick.
    to stick type
  3. To furnish or set with sticks.

noun

  1. A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab; an instance of sticking (pricking or piercing).
  2. An instance of piercing someone with a needle, e.g. to draw blood or start an IV.
  3. A person whom one is piercing with a needle to draw blood or start an IV .

verb

  1. To become or remain attached; to adhere.
    The tape will not stick if it melts.
  2. To jam; to stop moving.
    The lever sticks if you push it too far up.
  3. To tolerate, to endure, to stick with.

Origin

From Middle English sticke, stik, stikke (“branch, twig; kindling; mast; pale; stick, stylus”), from Old English sticca (“stick; peg; beam, rod”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô (“pole, stick”), from *stikkōną (“to fix, stick”), from *stikaną (“to stick; to stab”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to sting”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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