tick

n. [ OE. tike, teke; akin to D. teek, G. zecke. Cf. Tike a tick. ] (Zool.) (a) Any one of numerous species of large parasitic mites which attach themselves to, and suck the blood of, cattle, dogs, and many other animals. When filled with blood they become ovate, much swollen, and usually livid red in color. Some of the species often attach themselves to the human body. The young are active and have at first but six legs. (b) Any one of several species of dipterous insects having a flattened and usually wingless body, as the bird ticks (see under Bird) and sheep tick (see under Sheep). [ 1913 Webster ]

Tick bean, a small bean used for feeding horses and other animals. --
Tick trefoil (Bot.), a name given to many plants of the leguminous genus Desmodium, which have trifoliate leaves, and joined pods roughened with minute hooked hairs by which the joints adhere to clothing and to the fleece of sheep. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. techa, teca, L. theca case, Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to put. See Thesis. ] 1. The cover, or case, of a bed, mattress, etc., which contains the straw, feathers, hair, or other filling. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ticking. See Ticking, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To check off by means of a tick or any small mark; to score. [ 1913 Webster ]

When I had got all my responsibilities down upon my list, I compared each with the bill and ticked it off. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Abbrev. from ticket. ] Credit; trust; as, to buy on, or upon, tick. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Ticked p. pr. & vb. n. Ticking. ] [ Probably of imitative origin; cf. D. tikken, LG. ticken. ] 1. To make a small or repeating noise by beating or otherwise, as a watch does; to beat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To strike gently; to pat. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stand not ticking and toying at the branches. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To go on trust, or credit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To give tick; to trust. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Ticking. [ R. ] R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Tick. ] 1. One who, or that which, ticks, or produces a ticking sound, as a watch or clock, a telegraphic sounder, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A telegraphic receiving instrument that automatically prints off stock quotations (
stock ticker), market report, or other news on a paper ribbon or “tape.” [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. an electronic instrument receiving information by transmision from a remote source and displaying it in readable fashion, not necessarily on paper tape (e.g. on a video display terminal or moving ribbon of electronically controlled lights). [ PJC ]

4. The heart. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

Ticker tape Tape from or designed to be used in a stock ticker, usu. of paper and being narrow but long. --
Stock ticker, an electro-mechanical information receiving device connected by telegraphic wire to a stock exchange, and which prints out the latest transactions or news on stock exchanges, commonly found in the offices of stock brokers. By 1980 such devices were largely superseded by electronic stock quotation devices. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]