Word.ws English Dictionary

ICQ

/ˌaɪsiːˈkjuː/

ICQ noun: a call for acknowledgement.

Noun

ICQ (plural ICQs)

  1. (amateur radio) A call for acknowledgement.

Proper noun

ICQ

  1. (Internet) A program allowing users to send each other instant messages via the Internet.
    • ICQ was unusual among instant-messaging systems because it used what is called peer-to-peer technology—ICQ users essentially communicated with each other directly, without having all their messages pass through a central server.2005, Laura Lambert, Chris Woodford, Christos J. P. Moschovitis, The Internet: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 136

Verb

ICQ (third-person singular simple present ICQs, present participle ICQing, simple past and past participle ICQed)

  1. (Internet, transitive) To send an instant message to (someone) using ICQ.
    • "My friends ICQ me before they call me just to make sure I'm there," said Kurera, a 19-year-old sophomore […]2000 January 14, Greg Miller, “Ethernet Is Changing Dorm Life”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2013
    • I'll log-on in Hawaii. If needed we can ICQ from there.2002, Mike Savage, Lake Effect, Savage Press, →ISBN, page 94

Forms of ICQ

Noun
pluralICQs
Verb
third-person singular presentICQs
present participleICQing
past participleICQed
pastICQed

Origin of ICQ

A pun on the pronunciation of I seek you.

Questions about ICQ

What does ICQ mean?
ICQ means a call for acknowledgement.
What part of speech is ICQ?
ICQ can be a noun, a proper noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce ICQ?
ICQ is pronounced /ˌaɪsiːˈkjuː/.
What is the plural of ICQ?
The plural of ICQ is ICQs.

Words near ICQ in the dictionary

  1. icpalli
  2. icpallis
  3. icpals
  4. ICPL
  5. ICPs
  6. ICQ
  7. ICQed
  8. ICQer
  9. ICQers
  10. ICQing
  11. ICQs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ICQ (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ICQ.wav.

Cite this entry: “ICQ.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/icq. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.