Word.ws English Dictionary

wick

/ˈwɪk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

New Zealand/ˈwɘk/

wick noun: a braid or bundle of fibre or other porous material (now generally twisted or woven cotton) in a candle, kerosene heater, oil lamp, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel (such as melted tallow or wax, or oil) at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame. Also the obsolete abbreviation of wick-tooth.

Noun (1)

wick (countable and uncountable, plural wicks)

  1. (countable) A braid or bundle of fibre or other porous material (now generally twisted or woven cotton) in a candle, kerosene heater, oil lamp, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel (such as melted tallow or wax, or oil) at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame.
    • Trim the wick fairly short, so that the flame does not smoke.
    • Theſe cordes, they caule Cabuia and Henequen, which are al one thing ſauyng that Henequen is leſſe and of a fyner ſubſtaunce as it were line: And the other is groſſer lyke the wycke or twyſte of hempe, and is imperfecte in compariſon to the other.1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “Of Venemous Apples wherwith They Poyson Theyr Arrowes”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of the Newe Worlde...
    1. (uncountable) Synonym of wicking (“the material of which wicks (etymology 1, noun sense 1) are made”).
      • There liues vvithin the very flame of loue / A kind of weeke or ſnufe that vvill abate it, […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...
    2. (broadly, countable) Any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action; specifically (medicine), a strip of gauze placed in a wound, etc., to absorb fluids.
  2. (countable, euphemistic, slang) Often in dip one's wick: the penis.
    • His wick was stone stiff.[1969], Marcus van Heller [pseudonym; John Stevenson], Nest of Vixens, [New York, N.Y.]: Ophelia Press, →OCLC
    • Thrusting his head out of a miniature waterfall, Di asked, 'You don't feel like a bit of a bunk-up this evening, Stubby, by any chance?' / 'A bit of what?' / 'Dipping your wick, man!' / This was unlike the staid, chapel-going Di I thought I knew. 'I'm careful where I dip my wick, mate. Got a bit of...1971, Brian W[ilson] Aldiss, “Book 2: The Old Five-fingered Widow”, in A Soldier Erect, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, →OCLC, page 111

Verb (1)

wick (third-person singular simple present wicks, present participle wicking, simple past and past participle wicked)

  1. (transitive) Of a material (especially a textile): to convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action.
    • The fabric wicks perspiration away from the body.
  2. (intransitive) Of a material: to convey or draw off liquid by capillary action.
  3. (intransitive) Chiefly followed by through or up: of a liquid: to move by capillary action through a porous material.
    • The moisture slowly wicked through the wood.

Noun (2)

wick (plural wicks)

  1. (England, obsolete except dialectal) A hamlet or village; also, a town.
    • And by report, there vvere eight thouſand Gaules there ſlaine: the reſt abandoned the vvarre, and ſlipt every one into their ovvne vvickes and villages.1600, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XXXIIII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 866
  2. (East-Anglia, England, Essex, obsolete except dialectal) A farm; specifically, a dairy farm.
    • Note a fearme [farm] in the North parts is called a Tacke, in Lancaſhire a Fermeholt, in Eſſex a Wike.[1628, Edw[ard] Coke, “Of Fee Simple”, in The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. […], London: […] [Adam Islip] for the Societe of Stationers, →OCLC, , section I, folio 5, recto
    • Wick Farm—almost every village has its outlying ‘wick’—stands alone in the fields.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The Farmhouse—Traditions—Hunting Pictures—The Farmer’s Year—Sport—The Auction Festival—A Summer’s Day—Beauty of Wheat”, in Wild Life in a Southern County […], London...
  3. (England, obsolete) An enclosed piece of land; a close.

Adjective

wick (comparative wicker or more wick, superlative wickest or most wick)

  1. (England, Northern England, Yorkshire) Synonym of quick (“alive, living; also, active, lively”).
    • Well! yo must know I were in th' Infirmary for a fever, and times were rare and bad; and there be good chaps there to a man, while he's wick, whate'er they may be about cutting him up at after.1848, [Elizabeth Gaskell], chapter VIII, in Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life. […] (Chapman and Hall’s Series of Original Works of Fiction, Biography, and General Literature), volume I, London...
    • Thinks Abey, t' oud codger 'll nivver smoak t' trick, / I'll swop wi' him my poor deead horse for his wick, […]1845, “The Yorkshire Horse-dealer”, in James Henry Dixon, editor, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]...
    Synonyms:
    quick

Noun (3)

wick (countable and uncountable, plural wicks)

  1. (England, UK, Yorkshire, countable, dialectal) A maggot.
  2. (England, UK, Yorkshire, dialectal) The growing part of a plant nearest to the roots.
    • Fed close? Why, it’s eaten into t’ hard wick.
  3. (England, UK, Yorkshire, dialectal, in plural) The part of the root of a weed that remains viable in the ground after inadequate digging prior to cultivation.
  4. (England, UK, Yorkshire, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable) Life; also, liveliness.

Noun (4)

wick (plural wicks)

  1. (England, dialectal, obsolete) A angle or corner; specifically, a corner of the eye or mouth.
    • [H]ee vvould therefore haue you to make ſome expert Horſe farrier, to ſlit vp the vveekes of your Horſes mouth, equallie on both ſides of his cheekes, vvith a ſharpe rayſor, and then to ſeare it vvith a hot yron, and ſo heale it in ſuch ſorte, as the ſydes thereof may no more grovv together, but...1607, Gervase Markham, “Of the Cutting of Colts Mouthes or Tongues, and of the Drawing of Teeth, to Helpe the Bit to Lie in His True Plac”, in Cauelarice, or The English Horseman: […], London: […]...
    • Croudy hung his head to one side, and chuckled, and crowed, and laid on the ground with his staff; and always now and then cast a sly look-out at the wick of his eye to Pery.1818, James Hogg, “The Hunt of Eildon. Ancient.”, in The Brownie of Bodsbeck; and Other Tales. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray...
  2. (England, dialectal, obsolete) A grove; also, a hollow.

Noun (5)

wick (plural wicks)

  1. (England) A shot where the played bowl or stone touches a stationary bowl or stone just enough that the former changes direction; a cannon.
  2. (England) Synonym of port (“a narrow opening between other players' bowls or stones wide enough for a delivered bowl or stone to pass through”).
    Synonyms:
    port

Verb (2)

wick (third-person singular simple present wicks, present participle wicking, simple past and past participle wicked)

  1. (England, transitive) To strike (a stationary bowl or stone) with one's own bowl or stone just enough that the former changes direction; to cannon.
    • He vvas the king of a' the Core, / To guard, or dravv, or vvick a bore, […]1787, Robert Burns, “Tam Samson’s Elegy”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC...
  2. (England, intransitive) To strike a stationary bowl or stone with one's own bowl or stone just enough that the former changes direction; to cannon.

Noun (6)

wick (plural wicks)

  1. (England, Northern England, Scotland) An inlet, such as a creek or small bay.
    • The power thou dost covet / O'er tempest and wave, / Shall be thine, thou proud maiden, / By beach and by cave,— / By stack and by skerry, by noup, and by voe, / By air and by wick, and by helyer and gio, / And by every wild shore which the northern winds know, / And the northern tides lave.1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VI, in The Pirate. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 142

Noun (7)

wick (countable and uncountable, plural wicks)

  1. (England, countable) A basket made of wickers (“flexible branches or twigs of a plant such as willow woven together”); a creel.
    • A captive fish still fills the anxious eyes / And willow-wicks lie ready for the prize; […]1821, John Clare, “[Poems.] Rustic Fishing.”, in The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems, volume II, London: […] [T. Miller] for Taylor and Hessey, […]; and E[dward] Drury, […], →OCLC, page 102
  2. (England, uncountable) Wickers collectively; also, synonym of wickerwork (“wickers woven together”).

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Wick

Wick

  1. A town in north-eastern Caithness, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref ND3650).
  2. A river in Caithness, Highland council area that flows through the town into Wick Bay on the North Sea; in full, the Wick River.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Wick

Wick (countable and uncountable, plural Wicks)

  1. A hamlet in Luppitt parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref ST1703).
  2. An eastern suburb of Bournemouth in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Dorset (OS grid ref SZ1951).
  3. A village in Wick and Abson parish, South Gloucestershire district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref ST7072).
  4. A hamlet in Brent Knoll parish, Somerset, previously in Sedgemoor district (OS grid ref ST3253)
  5. A hamlet in Curry Rivel parish, Somerset, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST4026).
  6. A hamlet in Stogursey parish, Somerset, previously in Somerset West and Taunton district (OS grid ref ST2144).
  7. A northern suburb of Littlehampton, Arun district, West Sussex (OS grid ref TQ0203).
  8. A village in Downton parish, south Wiltshire (OS grid ref SU1621).
  9. A village and civil parish in Wychavon district, Worcestershire (OS grid ref SO9645).
  10. A village and community in Vale of Glamorgan borough county borough, Wales (OS grid ref SS9272).
  11. An unincorporated community in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States.
  12. An unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia, United States.
  13. (countable) A surname from Old English.

Also used as

wick is also the obsolete abbreviation of wick-tooth.

wick meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam

wick in Hindi

bundle of porous material in a candle, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame; any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action
बाती bātī, बत्ती battī, वर्तिका vartikā

wick in Tamil

bundle of porous material in a candle, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame; any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action
திரி tiri
(transitive) of a material: to convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action; (intransitive) to convey or draw off liquid by capillary action
உறி uṟi, உறிஞ்சு uṟiñcu
corner of the eye or mouth
கடைக்கண் kaṭaikkaṇ, கடைவாய் kaṭaivāy

wick in Urdu

bundle of porous material in a candle, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame; any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action
بَتّی battī

wick in Malayalam

bundle of porous material in a candle, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame; any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action
തിരി tiri
More languagesFewer languages
wick in Sanskrit
वर्तिका vartikā
wick in Nepali
मैनधागो maindhāgo
wick in Pashto
پلته palita, پليته palita
wick in Tagalog
mitsa
wick in Arabic
فَتِيل fatīl, فَتِيلَة fatīla
wick in Indonesian
sumbu
wick in Persian
فِتیلِه fetile, پِلیتِه pelite
wick in Thai
ไส้เทียน, ไส้ไก่
wick in Vietnamese
bấc, bấc đèn

Examples of wick in a sentence

  • The dice went rattling on; the candles were burning dim, with great long wicks.1839 May – 1840 February, Ikey Solomons, Jun. [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Catherine: A Story. Chapter III. In which a...
  • Her laugh wasn't cruel in tone, but it cut through Husk like a scalpel, withering his wick even further.2009, Ira Robbins, “Parthenogenesis”, in Kick It till It Breaks, [New York, N.Y.]: Trouser Press, →ISBN, page 130:
  • I thowt they was dead last back end but they're wick enif noo.1877, Edward Peacock, “Wick, adj.”, in A Glossary of Words Used in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham, Lincolnshire (Glossaries of...
  • It isn't dead uns I'm scar'd on, it's wick uns." […] I heard at the village of Yaddlethorpe, some five years after, a mother scolding her child.1905 August 26, Edward Peacock, “Replies. Yorkshire Dialect.”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men...

All 23 example sentences with wick

Synonyms of wick

Forms of wick

Noun
pluralwicks
Verb
third-person singular presentwicks
present participlewicking
past participlewicked
pastwicked
Adjective
comparativewicker
comparativemore wick
superlativewickest
superlativemost wick
Proper noun
pluralWicks

Past tense of wick: wicked

Plural of wick: wicks

Origin of wick

The noun is derived from Middle English wek, weke, wicke (“fibrous cord drawing fuel to flame of a candle, etc.; material used to make this object”), from Old English wēoce (“wick”), from Proto-West Germanic *weukā (“flax bundle; wick”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave”). It has been suggested that noun etymology 1, noun sense 2 (“penis”) is derived from Hampton Wick, used as rhyming slang for prick. If so, that sense should be placed under etymology 2. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Dutch wiek (“wick; wing; blade, propeller”) * German Wieche (“wick; wisp”) * Swedish veke (“wick”) * West Frisian wjok, wjuk (“wing”)

From Middle English wik, wike, wich, wicke (“dwelling, home; building or land, probably enclosed, in which work is done; area, region, territory; city, town; hamlet, village”), from Old English wīc (“dwelling place, abode, lodging; temporary dwelling place, camp; place where a thing remains; town, village”), and then probably: * from Latin vīcus (“row of houses; street; quarter, neighbourhood; hamlet, village; municipal section or ward; farm”), from Proto-Italic *weikos (“village”); and/or * from Proto-West Germanic *wīhs (“burgh, village; colony, settlement; dwelling”), from Proto-Germanic *wīhsą (“settlement; village”); both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“to enter in; to settle; settlement”). Doublet of vicus and -wich. cognates * Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) (whence English eco-) * Dutch wijk (“quarter, district”) * Old Frisian wik * Old High German wîch, wih (“village”) (modern German Weichbild (“municipal area”)) * Old Saxon wic (“village”)

A variant of quick.

Words formed from wick

Phrases with wick

Words that rhyme with wick

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about wick

What does wick mean?
Wick means a braid or bundle of fibre or other porous material (now generally twisted or woven cotton) in a candle, kerosene heater, oil lamp, etc., that draws up a liquid fuel (such as melted tallow or wax, or oil) at one end, to be ignited at the other end to produce a flame.
What is wick in Hindi?
Wick in Hindi is बाती (bātī), बत्ती (battī), वर्तिका (vartikā). See Wick meaning in Hindi.
How do you use wick in a sentence?
The dice went rattling on; the candles were burning dim, with great long wicks.
What part of speech is wick?
Wick can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce wick?
Wick is pronounced /ˈwɪk/.
What is the plural of wick?
The plural of wick is wicks.

Words near wick in the dictionary

  1. wichu
  2. wichuraiana
  3. wichuraianas
  4. Wichí
  5. Wichís
  6. wick
  7. Wick and Abson
  8. wick effect
  9. wick effects
  10. Wick Hill
  11. Wick rotation

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wick (page history and authors); Wick (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)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-wick.wav, En-au-wick.ogg.

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