# stick

Pronunciation: say "STIK" /stɪk/

## Noun

1. A long, thin piece of wood, such as a small branch that has fallen or been broken off a tree.
   - Simple: A long, thin piece of wood, often a small branch from a tree.
   - _He used a long stick to knock the apples down from the branch._
   - _The children gathered sticks to build a small fort._
8. A piece of a solid material formed into a rough rod or bar shape, such as wax, chalk, or dynamite.
   - Simple: A piece of something shaped like a short rod or bar, such as chalk or wax.
   - _The miners packed three sticks of dynamite into the drill hole._
   - _She keeps a stick of sunscreen in her bag for her nose and ears._
11. A long, slender implement with which players handle the ball or puck in hockey, polo, lacrosse, and similar sports.
   - Simple: A long thin tool used to hit or control a ball or puck in games like hockey.
   - _He swung his stick and sent the ball into the net._
   - _Lacrosse sticks have a netted pocket for catching and throwing._
13. A hand-operated lever used to control direction and movement, as in an aircraft or a video game; a joystick.
   - Simple: A handle you move to steer a plane or control a video game.
   - _Veteran arcade players still prefer a stick to a modern gamepad._
   - _She flicked the stick left to dodge the incoming fire._
17. A manual transmission, or a vehicle fitted with one, operated by a hand-controlled gear shift rather than shifting automatically. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: A way of driving where you change gears by hand with a lever, or a car that works this way.
   - _Plenty of rental agencies abroad still offer stick, so it helps to know how to shift._
   - _He prefers driving stick on mountain roads for the extra control it gives on steep grades._
18. A cane or walking aid, usually of wood, metal, or plastic, used as support when walking.
   - Simple: A long thin object you lean on to help you walk.
   - _After the surgery, he relied on a stick to get around the house._
   - _The nurse handed the old woman her stick so she could stand up._
19. A single strip of chewing gum, cut to the usual rectangular shape and size.
   - Simple: A single flat piece of chewing gum.
   - _A pack of gum usually holds several sticks wrapped in foil._
   - _He folded a stick of gum into his mouth before the interview._
20. A small rectangular block of butter, margarine, or lard equal to one half of a cup. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A block of butter or margarine equal to half a cup.
   - _Cream two sticks of butter with the sugar until fluffy._
   - _The recipe called for half a stick of margarine._
14. A club or baton of wood, metal, or plastic, especially one carried by police or guards.
   - Simple: A heavy club or baton, often carried by police or guards to hit people.
   - _The night watchman carried a heavy stick on his rounds._
   - _Riot police drew their sticks as the line advanced._
21. A negative stimulus or a punishment used to drive someone toward a desired action.
   - Simple: A punishment or threat used to make someone behave or work harder.
   - _Without a credible stick, the threat of sanctions meant nothing to the regime._
   - _The policy offered no reward, only the stick of higher fines._
22. A small, portable device used to store and transfer digital data; a memory stick.
   - Simple: A small device you plug into a computer to store files.
   - _He backed up the presentation onto a stick before the meeting._
   - _The teacher handed out lecture notes on a stick to each student._
26. A cigarette, usually of tobacco and less often of marijuana. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A cigarette, usually one made of tobacco.
27. The tapered cue used to strike the ball in pool, billiards, or snooker. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: The long tapered rod used to hit the ball in pool or billiards.
   - _The hustler kept his own stick in a leather case._
   - _Line up the shot and keep your stick level._
29. Criticism or ridicule, especially the sharp or sustained mockery a person is made to endure. *(British)*
   - Simple: Harsh criticism, teasing, or mockery directed at someone.
   - _The minister came in for serious stick over the leaked memo._
   - _He gave his teammate plenty of stick about the missed penalty._
31. A single item of furniture, particularly a wooden one.
   - Simple: One piece of furniture, often one made of wood.
   - _The fire destroyed every stick of furniture in the house._
   - _After the divorce he was left with a mattress and a few battered sticks of furniture._
15. As the sticks, remote country districts lying far from any town or city.
   - Simple: Places in the countryside that are a long way from any town or city.
   - _He grew up in the sticks and didn't see a movie theater until he was twelve._
   - _Cell service is still patchy for families living out in the sticks._

## Verb

2. To become attached to a surface, or to remain attached.
   - Simple: To join to a surface and stay there.
   - _Glue makes the paper stick firmly to the wall._
   - _Snow stuck to the windshield during the storm._
3. To remain loyal or to stand firm.
   - Simple: To stay loyal and not change your mind.
   - _True allies stick with you when things go wrong._
   - _He stuck to his promise despite enormous pressure._
4. To jam or stop moving suddenly.
   - Simple: To become jammed and unable to move.
   - _The old window tends to stick in humid weather._
   - _The key stuck in the lock and snapped._
5. To attach something with glue, or as though using glue.
   - Simple: To join something to a surface using glue, tape, or something similar.
   - _He stuck the poster to the wall with strong tape._
   - _Stick the label on the jar before you fill it._
6. To continue or last; to persist.
   - Simple: To continue or last instead of stopping.
   - _Good habits stick when you practice them daily._
   - _The name stuck long after the team had changed._
7. To jut out past a surface or edge, typically with out, up, or through, or to thrust something out so that it juts.
   - Simple: To come out past an edge or surface, often with out, up, or through, or to push something out like this.
   - _Tree roots stick up through the cracks in the old sidewalk._
   - _The bus driver told the kids not to stick their arms out of the windows._
9. To place or set something down quickly or carelessly.
   - Simple: To put something down quickly or without care.
   - _She stuck the dishes in the sink and ran out the door._
   - _Stick the boxes in the garage for now._
10. To press a pointed object into another surface or material.
   - Simple: To push something with a sharp point into another thing.
   - _He stuck the needle into the fabric and pulled the thread through._
   - _Gardeners stick stakes into the soil beside young plants._
12. To tolerate or endure something. *(colloquial, British, Australia)*
   - Simple: To put up with something you do not like.
   - _He could not stick the constant criticism any longer._
   - _She stuck that job for six years before she finally quit._
23. To perform a landing or shot perfectly, finishing with full control and no error.
   - Simple: To land or finish a move perfectly, without losing your balance or making a mistake.
   - _The gymnast knew she had to stick her dismount to win the gold._
   - _The skateboarder stuck the landing on his very first try, and his friends cheered._
24. Of snow, to remain frozen on the ground after falling rather than melting away.
   - Simple: When snow lands on the ground and stays frozen instead of melting.
   - _Forecasters doubt the snow will stick on the warm roads._
   - _By dawn the snow had begun to stick to the fields._
25. To fix something onto a sharp or pointed instrument; to impale.
   - Simple: To push a sharp point through something so it is held in place.
   - _The cook stuck the chunks of lamb onto metal skewers._
   - _Collectors stick each specimen on a fine pin for display._
30. In blackjack, to stop taking cards and keep one's hand as it is. *(UK)*
   - Simple: In blackjack, to stop taking more cards and keep the cards you have.
   - _Most players stick on eighteen rather than risk going bust._
   - _She stuck at twenty and watched the dealer turn over a king and a queen._

## Verb

16. To stop someone short, block their progress, or leave them baffled. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To stop someone from going on, or to leave them puzzled.
   - _Questions about the old tax law could stick even the most experienced clerks._
   - _One unfamiliar word in the old letter stuck the translator for most of an afternoon._
28. To take advantage of someone, to make them pay, or sometimes to cheat them. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To make someone pay money, often too much, or to cheat them.
   - _The garage stuck him for two hundred dollars on a job that took ten minutes._
   - _"How much do you think we can stick the new guy for?" the dealer whispered._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To strike a person, an animal, or a thing with a stick.
- (noun) In golf, the pole carrying a small flag that shows players where the hole is; the flagstick.
- (noun) Vigor, spirit, or energy; force and intensity of effort.
- (noun) A board ridden in board sports: a surfboard, snowboard, or skateboard.
- (noun) A piece of sawn construction lumber, such as a common two-by-four stud.
- (noun) In cope-and-stick joinery, the upright frame piece whose molded edge takes the shaped end of the crosspiece.
- (noun) One of a ship's masts, or a piece of one, or a spar hung across it.
- (noun) A cluster of something fixed to or wound around a stick, such as candy or meat.
- (noun) A scroll fixed to a rod so that it can be wound around it.
- (noun) The release rack holding a bomber's bombs, or a string of bombs dropped one after another from it, or any similar rapid series of drops such as paratroopers.
- (noun) The pilot's handling of an aircraft by means of its control column.
- (noun) The propeller of an airplane.
- (noun) A pistol, revolver or other handgun.
- (noun) A hand-held tray, usually metal, in which a typesetter lines up pieces of type to form lines of text.
- (noun) The clarinet, as jazz musicians called it.
- (noun) The crop a jockey uses to urge a horse on during a race.
- (noun) Pool as a game, or a single game of it.
- (noun) How far a particular golf club can hit the ball off the tee.
- (noun) How much hitting power a particular bat can deliver.
- (noun) A batter's overall skill at hitting the ball.
- (noun) How accurately shots can be made with a particular hockey stick, reflecting also the skill of the player.
- (noun) A person, often described with a word such as old or dull, or a group of people.
- (noun) A very thin person, especially a woman with a flat chest.
- (noun) A helper hidden among the audience who pretends to be a random spectator.
- (noun) A person employed by a casino or gambling house who plays to draw others into the game.
- (noun) A rigid, foolishly stubborn person.
- (noun) A pilot who flies fighter planes.
- (noun) A small unit of infantry, such as a group of paratroopers jumping together.
- (noun) Physical punishment such as beatings, or by extension harsh criticism.
- (noun) Hard, fast driving with the accelerator pressed down.
- (noun) A former British measure equal to two inches.
- (noun) A traditional counting unit for eels, usually twenty-five fish.
- (noun) In ASCII, one of the eight blocks of sixteen characters into which its 128 codes are divided.
- (verb) To shape the edge of a wooden frame piece so the coped ends of crosspieces fit against it.
- (verb) To set type by hand, lining up the letters in a composing stick.
- (verb) To provide something with sticks or set sticks in or around it, especially to support climbing plants such as peas.
- (noun) The quality of staying stuck or tending to cling.
- (noun) How well tires grip the road.
- (noun) Something that clings to a surface.
- (noun) In fly fishing, how much line is lying flat on the surface at the moment the angler starts a cast.
- (noun) A jab or stab with something sharp.
- (verb) To be unwilling or slow to do something, often in phrases saying someone would not hold back.
- (verb) To find something hard to understand or be baffled by it.
- (verb) To cause someone to hesitate, doubt, or hold back.
- (verb) To pierce a person or animal with a knife or other pointed weapon.
- (verb) To decorate something by pinning or pushing items into it.
- (verb) To start new plants from pieces snipped off a parent plant.
- (verb) To cut moldings with a machine rather than shape them by hand.
- (verb) To have sex with someone.
- (adjective) Tending to cling or adhere.
- (noun) A customary measure of length for imported Flemish cloth, which differed by material.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 8, 11, 13–15, 17–22, 26–27, 31** — The Proto-Germanic forms that led to Old English sticca ("rod, twig") and Middle English stikke ("stick, rod, twig") go back to *(s)teyg-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to pierce, prick, be sharp." The word is related to stigma and has cognates in Frisian and Low German.
**Meanings 2–7, 9–10, 12, 16, 23–25, 28, 30** — From Middle English stiken ("to stick, pierce, stab, remain fastened"), from Old English stician, going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to pierce, prick, be sharp." It shares that root with the noun stick, and is related to stitch and, via French, to etiquette.
**Meaning 29** — The idea is probably the stick used to punish someone, making this a figurative extension of the first etymology ("twig, branch").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stick (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).