stick

[ stik ]

/ stɪk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR stick ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a branch or shoot of a tree or shrub that has been cut or broken off.

a relatively long and slender piece of wood.

a long piece of wood for use as fuel, in carpentry, etc.

a rod or wand.

a baton.

Chiefly British. a walking stick or cane.

a club or cudgel.

something that serves to goad or coerce: The threat of unemployment was the stick that kept the workers toiling overtime. Compare carrot(def 3).

a long, slender piece or part of anything: a stick of candy; sticks of celery.

any of four equal parts in a pound of butter or margarine.

Sports. an implement used to drive or propel a ball or puck, as a crosse or a hockey stick.

Aeronautics. a lever, usually with a handle, by which the longitudinal and lateral motions of an airplane are controlled.

Nautical. a mast or spar.

Printing. composing stick.

the sticks, Informal. any region distant from cities or towns, as rural districts; the country: Having lived in a large city all his life, he found it hard to adjust to the sticks.

Military.

a group of bombs so arranged as to be released in a row across a target.
the bomb load.

Informal. stick shift.

Slang. a marijuana cigarette.

Informal. an unenthusiastic or uninteresting person.

Informal. a portion of liquor, as brandy, added to a nonalcoholic drink.

verb (used with object), sticked, stick·ing.

to furnish (a plant, vine, etc.) with a stick or sticks in order to prop or support.

Printing. to set (type) in a composing stick.

Idioms for stick

short/dirty end of the stick, Slang. the least desirable assignment, decision, or part of an arrangement.

Origin of stick

before 1000; Middle English stikke, Old English sticca; akin to Old High German stehho, Old Norse stik stick; akin to stick²

OTHER WORDS FROM stick

stick·less, adjective stick·like, adjective

Words nearby stick

stich, sticharion, stichic, stichometry, stichomythia, stick, stick around, stick at, stick by, stick down, stick figure

Definition for stick (2 of 2)

stick ²

[ stik ]

/ stɪk /

verb (used with object), stuck, stick·ing.

to pierce or puncture with something pointed, as a pin, dagger, or spear; stab: to stick one's finger with a needle.

to kill by this means: to stick a pig.

to thrust (something pointed) in, into, through, etc.: to stick a needle into a pincushion.

to fasten in position by thrusting a point or end into something: to stick a peg in a pegboard.

to fasten in position by or as if by something thrust through: to stick a painting on the wall.

to put on or hold with something pointed; impale: to stick a marshmallow on a fork.

to decorate or furnish with things piercing the surface: to stick a cushion full of pins.

to furnish or adorn with things attached or set here and there: to stick shelves full of knickknacks.

to place upon a stick or pin for exhibit: to stick butterflies.

to thrust or poke into a place or position indicated: to stick one's head out of the window.

to place or set in a specified position; put: Stick the chair in the corner.

to fasten or attach by causing to adhere: to stick a stamp on a letter.

to bring to a standstill; render unable to proceed or go back (usually used in the passive): The car was stuck in the mud.

Carpentry. to start (a nail).

Ceramics. to join (pieces of partially hardened clay) together, using slip as an adhesive.

Chiefly British Informal. to tolerate; endure: He couldn't stick the job more than three days.

to confuse or puzzle; bewilder; perplex; nonplus: He was stuck by the very first problem on the test.

Informal. to impose something disagreeable upon (a person or persons), as a large bill or a difficult task: The committee persistently stuck him with fund collection.

Informal. to cheat.

Slang: Often Vulgar. to go to hell with: often used imperatively.

verb (used without object), stuck, stick·ing.

to have the point piercing or embedded in something: The arrow stuck in the tree.

to remain attached by adhesion.

to hold, cleave, or cling: The young rider stuck to the back of his terrified horse.

to remain persistently or permanently: a fact that sticks in the mind.

to remain firm, as in resolution, opinion, statement, or attachment; hold faithfully, as to a promise or bargain.

to keep or remain steadily or unremittingly, as to a task, undertaking, or the like: to stick to a job until it is finished.

to become fastened, hindered, checked, or stationary by some obstruction: Her zipper stuck halfway up.

to be at a standstill, as from difficulties: I'm stuck on this problem.

to be embarrassed or puzzled; hesitate or scruple (usually followed by at).

to be thrust or placed so as to extend, project, or protrude (usually followed by through, from, out, up, etc.).

noun

a thrust with a pointed instrument; stab.

a stoppage or standstill.

something causing delay or difficulty.

the quality of adhering or of causing things to adhere.

something causing adhesion.

Verb Phrases

stick around, Informal. to wait in the vicinity; linger: If you had stuck around, you'd have seen the fireworks.

stick by/to, to maintain one's attachment or loyalty to; remain faithful to: They vowed to stick by one another no matter what happened.

stick out, to extend; protrude: Stick out your tongue. Your shirttail is sticking out.

stick up, Informal. to rob, especially at gunpoint: A lone gunman stuck up the gas station.

stick up for, to speak in favor of; come to the defense of; support: She always sticks up for him, even though he doesn't deserve it.

Origin of stick

before 900; Middle English stiken, Old English stician to pierce, thrust; akin to German stechen to sting, Latin -stīg- in instīgāre (see instigate), Greek stízein (see stigma)

SYNONYMS FOR stick

1 penetrate, spear.

6 transfix.

9 pin.

12 glue, cement, paste.

22 Stick, adhere, cohere mean to cling to or be tightly attached to something. Adhere implies that one kind of material clings tenaciously to another; cohere adds the idea that a thing is attracted to and held by something like itself: Particles of sealing wax cohere and form a mass that will adhere to tin. Stick, a more colloquial and general term, is used particularly when a third kind of material is involved: A gummed label will stick to a package.

29 stickle, waver, doubt.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR stick ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM stick

stick·a·ble, adjective stick·a·bil·i·ty, noun re·stick·a·ble, adjective

ABOUT THIS WORD

What does stick mean?

Content warning: this article references guns.

Stick is a slang term for “gun,” especially an automatic rifle in Southern hip-hop in the U.S. That means you can “stick ’em up”… with a stick.

Where does stick come from?

The use of stick to refer to a “gun” or “rifle” can be traced back to as early as the 1840s. Stick, here, is due to the long, narrow, and stick-like appearance of a rifle as well as perhaps its wooden butt.

In 1900, President Theodore Roosevelt famously formulated his foreign policy as “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” This stick wasn’t necessarily a gun, but rather a collection of them, shall we say: he meant having a strong military was essential should diplomatic negotiations fail.

During the 1960s, rifles were called idiot sticks during the Vietnam war. Stick was also the title of a 1985 crime film starring Burt Reynolds and Candice Bergen. Stick is the main character’s nickname, but it also calls up his car-thief, gun-wielding ways.

Stick, for a “rifle” like an AK-47 assault rifle, was popularized by Southern hip-hop, especially in Atlanta, Georgia and Miami, Florida. Urban Dictionary entries for it went up in 2010, though an earlier one from 2007 notes stick‘s use for a handgun or pistol in the UK.

Future released “Stick Talk” in 2015 on which he raps about the firepower of sticks. On his viral 2016 “Dat $tick,” Rich Brian also uses stick in his lyrics. On verified annotations on Genius, Brian, an Indonesian rapper based in Los Angeles, confirms that stick is slang for “gun.”

How is stick used in real life?

Stick is prevalent as hip-hop slang, usually featured in threats or acts of aggression about urban life. Atlanta rapper SahBabii came into the spotlight with his 2016 “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick,” where he raps: “Pull up with the stick, let it hit / I put this on the ten, I’ma end.”

Hip-hop helped the slang spread into the popular lexicon, where, especially online, people have made humorous riffs on lyrics like SahBabii’s pulling up with a stick.

pull up with a stick pic.twitter.com/UAqWNR7tmC

— ItsTheReal (@itsthereal) May 6, 2017

pull up with a stick #Halloween2k18 pic.twitter.com/UdpSVDD7E2

— wimp wamp 🙂 (@demahjiae) October 29, 2018

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.

Example sentences from the Web for stick

After some animated debate at the conference, Lelaie declared, with some frustration, “If you push on the stick, you will fly.”

Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly? |Clive Irving |January 4, 2015 |DAILY BEAST
And for Larry Flynt, this might be a monumental opportunity to stick it to the dictator the best way he knows how.

Kim Jong Un, Avert Your Eyes: Sony’s ‘The Interview’ Gets the Porn Parody Treatment |Aurora Snow |December 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
His decision to stick to his convictions on Thursday is no doubt positive news for them.

Presidential Hopeful Rand Paul Backs Obama on Cuba Deal |Olivia Nuzzi |December 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
In short, Pakistan is an aggrieved state that got the short end of the stick when Partition happened.

CIA Agents Assess: How Real Is ‘Homeland’? |Chuck Cogan, John MacGaffin |December 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

“Telling employees to stick to authorized legal boundaries is a good thing,” he said Wednesday when asked about the quote.

CIA Interrogation Chief: ‘Rectal Feeding,’ Broken Limbs Are News to Me |Kimberly Dozier |December 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
William pressed into one of his hands a stick of liquorice and into the other a packet of chocolate.

Just William |Richmal Crompton
I'll put two or three over the organ, and stick some round the monuments.

A harum-scarum schoolgirl |Angela Brazil
A stick broke under him with a snap, there was a sudden rustling in the bushes, and Sid uttered a cry of dismay.

A Quarter-Back's Pluck |Lester Chadwick
Jest like a hornet's nest: shake a stick at ary one o' the group, an' they all come buzzin' round te'ble miffy in less 'n no time.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864 |Various
The thought of Gideon's stick, the feel of his heavy hand upon his shoulder, were with him as of yore.

Lewis Rand |Mary Johnston

British Dictionary definitions for stick (1 of 2)

stick ¹

/ (stɪk) /

noun

a small thin branch of a tree

any long thin piece of wood
such a piece of wood having a characteristic shape for a special purposea walking stick; a hockey stick
a baton, wand, staff, or rod

an object or piece shaped like a stick a stick of celery; a stick of dynamite

See control stick

informal the lever used to change gear in a motor vehicle

nautical a mast or yard

printing See composing stick

a group of bombs arranged to fall at intervals across a target
a number of paratroops jumping in sequence

slang

verbal abuse, criticismI got some stick for that blunder
physical power, force (esp in the phrase give it some stick)

(usually plural) a piece of furniture these few sticks are all I have

(plural) informal a rural area considered remote or backward (esp in the phrase in the sticks)

(plural) Canadian West coast and Northwestern Canadian informal the wooded interior part of the country

(plural) hockey a declaration made by the umpire if a player's stick is above the shoulders

(plural) goalposts

US obsolete a cannabis cigarette

a means of coercion

informal a dull boring person

(usually preceded by old) informal a familiar name for a person not a bad old stick

in a cleft stick in a difficult position

wrong end of the stick a complete misunderstanding of a situation, explanation, etc

verb sticks, sticking or sticked

to support (a plant) with sticks; stake

Word Origin for stick

Old English sticca; related to Old Norse stikka, Old High German stecca

British Dictionary definitions for stick (2 of 2)

stick ²

/ (stɪk) /

verb sticks, sticking or stuck

(tr) to pierce or stab with or as if with something pointed

to thrust or push (a sharp or pointed object) or (of a sharp or pointed object) to be pushed into or through another object

(tr) to fasten in position by pushing or forcing a point into something to stick a peg in a hole

(tr) to fasten in position by or as if by pins, nails, etc to stick a picture on the wall

(tr) to transfix or impale on a pointed object

(tr) to cover with objects piercing or set in the surface

(when intr, foll by out, up, through, etc) to put forward or be put forward; protrude or cause to protrude to stick one's head out of the window

(tr) informal to place or put in a specified position stick your coat on this chair

to fasten or be fastened by or as if by an adhesive substance stick the pages together; they won't stick

(tr) informal to cause to become sticky

(when tr, usually passive) to come or cause to come to a standstill we were stuck for hours in a traffic jam; the wheels stuck

(intr) to remain for a long time the memory sticks in my mind

(tr) slang, mainly British to tolerate; abide I can't stick that man

(intr) to be reluctant

(tr; usually passive) informal to cause to be at a loss; baffle, puzzle, or confuse I was totally stuck for an answer

(tr) slang to force or impose something unpleasant on they stuck me with the bill for lunch

(tr) to kill by piercing or stabbing

stick in one's throat or stick in one's craw informal to be difficult, or against one's conscience, for one to accept, utter, or believe

stick one's nose into See nose (def. 17)

stick to the ribs informal (of food) to be hearty and satisfying

noun

the state or condition of adhering

informal a substance causing adhesion

obsolete something that causes delay or stoppage

See also stick around, stick at, stick by, stick down, stick out, stick to, stick together, stick-up, stick with, stuck

Word Origin for stick

Old English stician; related to Old High German stehhan to sting, Old Norse steikja to roast on a spit

Idioms and Phrases with stick

stick

In addition to the idioms beginning with stick

stick around
stick at
stick by
stick in one's craw
stick it
stick it to someone
stick one's neck out
stick out
stick to
stick together
stick to one's guns
stick to one's last
stick to the ribs
stick up
stick up for
stick with
sticky fingers

also see:

carrot and stick
get on the stick
make stick
more than one can shake a stick at
short end of the stick
stand (stick) up for
wrong end of the stick

Also see understuck.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

stick

noun

verb (used with object), sticked, stick·ing.

Idioms for stick

Origin of stick

OTHER WORDS FROM stick

Words nearby stick

Definition for stick (2 of 2)

verb (used with object), stuck, stick·ing.

verb (used without object), stuck, stick·ing.

noun

Verb Phrases

Origin of stick

SYNONYMS FOR stick

OTHER WORDS FROM stick

ABOUT THIS WORD

What does stick mean?

Where does stick come from?

How is stick used in real life?

Note

Example sentences from the Web for stick

British Dictionary definitions for stick (1 of 2)

noun

verb sticks, sticking or sticked

Word Origin for stick

British Dictionary definitions for stick (2 of 2)

verb sticks, sticking or stuck

noun

Word Origin for stick

Idioms and Phrases with stick

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

stick

noun

verb (used with object), sticked, stick·ing.

Idioms for stick

Origin of stick

OTHER WORDS FROM stick

Words nearby stick

Definition for stick (2 of 2)

verb (used with object), stuck, stick·ing.

verb (used without object), stuck, stick·ing.

noun

Verb Phrases

Origin of stick

SYNONYMS FOR stick

OTHER WORDS FROM stick

ABOUT THIS WORD

What does stick mean?

Where does stick come from?

How is stick used in real life?

Note

Words related to stick

Example sentences from the Web for stick

British Dictionary definitions for stick (1 of 2)

noun

verb sticks, sticking or sticked

Word Origin for stick

British Dictionary definitions for stick (2 of 2)

verb sticks, sticking or stuck

noun

Word Origin for stick

Idioms and Phrases with stick