Link Centre Dictionary

tickle

UK/ˈtɪkl̩/ US/ˈtɪkʌl/ fairly common informal
noun (2) verb (3)

noun

1.
2.

verb

1.
2.

feel sudden intense sensation or emotion

  • “he was thrilled by the speed and the roar of the engine”
Synonyms
3.

touch or stroke lightly

  • “The grass tickled her calves”

Origin

From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”). Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.