tickle

[ tik-uhl ]

verb (used with object)

, tick·led, tick·ling.

1. to touch or stroke lightly with the fingers, a feather, etc., so as to excite a tingling or itching sensation in; titillate.
2. to poke some sensitive part of the body so as to excite spasmodic laughter.
3. to excite agreeably; gratify:

   to tickle someone's vanity.

4. to excite amusement in:

   The clown's antics really tickled the kids.

   Synonyms: enchant, delight, please, amuse

5. to get, move, etc., by or as by tickling:

   She tickled him into saying yes.

6. to stroke the underbelly of (a fish, especially a trout) until it goes into a trancelike state, making it possible to scoop it out of the water: the ability to tickle a fish, often contested as more mythical than actual, has been written of and embellished on since ancient times:

   He tickled that fish until it stopped moving, and the next thing I knew, we were having trout for dinner!

verb (used without object)

, tick·led, tick·ling.

1. to be affected with a tingling or itching sensation, as from light touches or strokes:

   I tickle all over.

2. to produce such a sensation.

noun

1. an act or instance of tickling.
2. a tickling sensation.

tickle

/ ˈtɪkəl /

verb

1. to touch, stroke, or poke (a person, part of the body, etc) so as to produce pleasure, laughter, or a twitching sensation
2. tr to excite pleasurably; gratify
3. tr to delight or entertain (often in the phrase tickle one's fancy )
4. intr to itch or tingle
5. tr to catch (a fish, esp a trout) by grasping it with the hands and gently moving the fingers into its gills
6. tickle pink or tickle to death informal.
   to please greatly

   he was tickled pink to be elected president

noun

1. a sensation of light stroking or itching
2. the act of tickling
3. (in the Atlantic Provinces) a narrow strait

Derived Forms

• ˈtickly, adjective

Other Words From

• un·tickled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tickle¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tikelen; further origin uncertain; perhaps frequentative of tiken “to touch lightly”; tick ¹ (in obsolete sense “to touch lightly”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of tickle¹

C14: related to Old English tinclian, Old High German kizziton, Old Norse kitla, Latin titillāre to titillate

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. tickled pink, Informal. greatly pleased:

   She was tickled pink that he had remembered her birthday.

Example Sentences

The result is a punch of spice, a tickle of tang and a soupçon of sweet.

From Los Angeles Times

It attracts trolls as a flame does a moth, lures them inside, and sets them loose in an environment full of products that will tickle them.

From Slate

His first wicket, Abdullah Shafique’s tickle down the leg side detected on review, was a strangle and his next two were classical off-spin.

From BBC

While they may see the care staff indoors, they never touch them — the closest they can come is “tickle sticks,” a 2-foot-long hose employees stick through a mesh barrier to play with the animals from afar.

From Los Angeles Times

Though Stone’s hostility was rewarded with Karunaratne’s tickle down the leg side, Chandimal was aggressive, especially against off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.

From BBC

Related Words

• amuse
• delight
• enchant
• excite
• gratify
• pat
• please
• thrill
• titillate