Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Lick

Lick (lĭk), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Licked (lĭkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Licking.] [AS. liccian; akin to OS. likkōn, D. likken, OHG. lecchōn, G. lecken, Goth. bi-laigōn, Russ. lizate, L. lingere, Gr. λείχειν , Skr. lih, rih. √121. Cf. Lecher, Relish.] 1. To draw or pass the tongue over; as, a dog licks his master's hand. Addison.

2. To lap; to take in with the tongue; as, a dog or cat licks milk. Shak.

To lick the dust, to be slain; to fall in battle. "His enemies shall lick the dust." Ps. lxxii. 9. — To lick into shape, to give proper form to; — from a notion that the bear's cubs are born shapeless and subsequently formed by licking. Hudibras. — To lick the spittle of, to fawn upon. South. - - To lick up, to take all of by licking; to devour; to consume entirely. Shak. Num. xxii. 4.

Lick, n. [See Lick, v.] 1. A stroke of the tongue in licking. "A lick at the honey pot." Dryden.

2. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue, or of something which acts like a tongue; as, to put on colors with a lick of the brush. Also, a small quantity of any substance so applied. [Colloq.]

A lick of court whitewash. Gray.

3. A place where salt is found on the surface of the earth, to which wild animals resort to lick it up; — often, but not always, near salt springs. [U. S.]

Lick, v. t. [Cf. OSw. lägga to place, strike, prick.] To strike with repeated blows for punishment; to flog; to whip or conquer, as in a pugilistic encounter. [Colloq. or Low] Carlyle. Thackeray.

Lick, n. A slap; a quick stroke.[Colloq.] "A lick across the face." Dryden.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.