[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tick.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / tick

[← T](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/T/)

# tick

«tick» in Mova's school dictionary: **a mark (✓) that shows something is right or done…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

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

### meaning for a pupil

1) A tick is a mark (✓) that shows something is right or done; Americans usually call it a check mark. [tree →](https://md.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://md.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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m4)

5) «In a tick» (British) means in a moment. [tree →](https://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/#m6)

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

### In the corpora

- [Banded mongooses pick ticks off warthogs lying down; a friendship where both sides gain is called mutualism.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/125-timon-and-pumbaa-real-meerkats-and-warthogs/14/)
- [Sally Lightfoot crabs are bright red crabs that leap from rock to rock, eat algae and pick ticks off marine iguanas.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/180-the-galapagos-giant-tortoises-sea-iguanas-darwins-finches-and-tame-sea-lions/16/)
- [A tiny tick can hitch a ride on your leg without you feeling it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets/5/)
- [Six legs means an insect, eight means a spider or a tick.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/400-the-big-biology-quiz-part-4-everything-from-lessons-301-to-399/2/)
- ["Tick two" means exactly two ticks; a third tick loses the mark.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/51-sats-the-reading-paper/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tick» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tick/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.