Wick
WordNet
noun
(1) A loosely woven cord (in a candle or oil lamp) that draws fuel by capillary action up into the flame
(2) Any piece of cord that conveys liquid by capillary action
"The physician put a wick in the wound to drain it"
WiktionaryText
Noun
- A bundle, twist, braid, or woven strip of cord, fabric, fiber, or other porous material in a candle, oil lamp, kerosene heater, or the like, that draws up liquid fuel, such as melted tallow, wax, or the oil, delivering it to the base of the flame for conversion to gases and burning; any other length of material burned for illumination in small successive portions.
- Trim the wick fairly short, so that the flame does not smoke.
- Any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action; e.g. a strip of gauze placed in a wound to serve as a drain.
- A narrow opening in the field, flanked by other players' stones.
- A shot where the played stone touches a stationary stone just enough that the played stone changes direction.
Verb
- To convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action.
- The fabric wicks perspiration away from the body.
- To traverse (i.e. be conveyed by capillary action) through a wick or other porous material, as water through a sponge. Usually followed by .
- The moisture slowly wicked through the wood.
- To strike (a stone) obliquely; to strike (a stationary stone) just enough that the played stone changes direction.
Etymology 2
From earlier , ; from ; Germanic borrowing from (see ). Came to mean “dairy farm” around 13th-14th century (e.g. Gatwick “Goat-farm”). Compare cognates: , , , , , , .
- Present in compounds (meaning “village”, “jurisdiction”, or “harbour”), as, bailiwick, Warwick, Greenwick, Southwick, Hampton Wick, etc., also -wich.
Noun
- A farm, especially a dairy farm.
- A village; hamlet; castle; dwelling; street; creek; bay; harbour; a place of work, jurisdiction, or exercise of authority.
Etymology 3
From ; similar to an archaic meaning of , and .
Adjective
- Alive; lively; full of life; active; bustling; nimble; quick.
- as wick as an eel
- T' wickest young chap at ivver Ah seen.
- He's a strange wick bairn alus runnin' aboot.
- I'll skin ye wick! (skin you alive)
- I thowt they was dead last back end but they're wick enif noo.
- "Are you afraid of going across the churchyard in the dark?" "Lor' bless yer noä miss! It isn't dead uns I'm scar'd on, it's wick uns."
- I'll swop wi' him my poor dead horse for his wick. — Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, page 210
Noun
- Liveliness; life.
- I niver knew such an a thing afore in all my wick. — Ashby, 12 July 1875
- The growing part of a plant nearest to the roots.
- Fed close? Why, it's eaten into t' hard wick. (spoken of a pasture which has been fed very close)