tickling

Pluralticklings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of tickle.

   A loose thread was tickling the back of his neck all through the meeting.

   Tickling the trout gently, the poacher coaxed it toward his waiting hands.

   Note

   One -ing form doing two jobs. It works as a progressive verb (a thread was tickling his neck) and as a gerund in noun position (tickling a trout takes patience). It carries every sense of tickle, including the intransitive use where the body part is the subject (my nose is tickling) and the craft of catching fish by hand. Unlike the countable act, the gerund takes a direct object and has no plural.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The act of touching a sensitive part of someone's body to make them laugh or squirm.

   One tickling from his uncle was enough to leave him breathless with laughter.

   The children begged for another tickling before they would settle down for bed.

   Note

   Countable in a way the verb form never is: one tickling, many ticklings. In the plural it names rounds of horseplay. Victorian Periodicals Review (1998) lists ticklings among a crowd's yells and shrieks, bonnetings, hat throwing and fighting. The same plural also serves the tingling feeling, as in ticklings and muscular aches, so context decides whether someone is doing it or merely feeling it.

3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A light tingling feeling, such as the urge to cough or scratch caused by slight irritation.

   A persistent tickling at the back of her throat kept interrupting the speech.

   He felt a strange tickling in his nose just before he sneezed.

   Similaritch, tingling, tingle, prickle, irritation

4. 4
   adjective

   Producing a light, prickling sensation that provokes laughter or the urge to scratch.

   The tickling wool of the new sweater left her restless all evening.

   A tickling breeze stirred the long grass and set the children laughing.

   Similartickly, itchy, scratchy, prickly

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