tickle

[ tik-uhl ]
/ ˈtɪk əl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR tickle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), tick·led, tick·ling.

verb (used without object), tick·led, tick·ling.

to be affected with a tingling or itching sensation, as from light touches or strokes: I tickle all over.
to produce such a sensation.

noun

an act or instance of tickling.
a tickling sensation.

Idioms for tickle

    tickled pink, Informal. greatly pleased: She was tickled pink that someone had remembered her birthday.

Origin of tickle

1300–50; Middle English tikelen, frequentative of tick1 (in obsolete sense) to touch lightly

OTHER WORDS FROM tickle

un·tick·led, adjective

Words nearby tickle

tickets, tickety-boo, tickey, ticking, ticklace, tickle, tickle one's fancy, tickle the ivories, tickled pink, tickler, tickler coil

Words related to tickled pink

amused, delighted, tickled, thrilled

British Dictionary definitions for tickled pink

tickle
/ (ˈtɪkəl) /

verb

noun

Derived forms of tickle

tickly, adjective

Word Origin for tickle

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

Idioms and Phrases with tickled pink

tickled pink

Also, tickled to death. Delighted, as in I was tickled pink when I got his autograph, or His parents were tickled to death when he decided to marry her. The first term, first recorded in 1922, alludes to one's face turning pink with laughter when one is being tickled. The variant, clearly a hyperbole, dates from about 1800.