Forms: 1 liccian, 2–6 lik, 4–5 like, lyke, 3–7 licke(n, 4–6 likke, 5–6 lycke, lykke, (5 lykkyn), 6– lick. [OE. liccian = OS. liccôn, leccôn (Du. likken), OHG. leckôn (MHG., mod.G. lecken):—OTeut. *likkôn (whence It. leccare, F. lécher), prob. repr. pre-Teut. *lighnā-, f. OAryan root *ligh- (: leigh- : loigh-), found in Goth. (bi)laigôn, Gr. λείχειν to lick, λείνος dainty, L. lingĕre, OIrish ligim, OSl. ližati, Lith. lëžti, Skr. rih, lih to lick.]
1. trans. To pass the tongue over (something), e.g., with the object of tasting, moistening the surface, or removing something from it.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Saints’ Lives (1885), I. 114. Ða reðan deor … heora liða liccodon mid liðra tungan.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 270. 320. Þo he i-saiȝ ane leon licke þat bodi.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xlv. (Cristine), 261. Þe serpentis hire fete can lyke.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 29. Thei [dogges] were about her mouthe and liked it.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. xvii. [The asse] beganne to kysse and to lykke hym.
1592. G. Harvey, Four Lett., Wks. (Grosart), I. 206. To seek his dinner in poules with Duke humfrey: to licke dishes, to be a beggar.
a. 1617. Hieron, Wks., II. 456. Must God then lacke the due attendance of the people in His house, while they are licking of thy trenchers?
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 431, ¶ 3. I left off eating of Pipes, and fell to licking of Chalk.
1732. Pope, Ess. Man, I. 84. Pleas’d to the last, he crops the flow’ry food, And licks the hand just rais’d to shed his blood.
1792. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Wks., III. 4. The man I hate … Who, to complete his dinner, licks his plate.
1798. Sir M. Eden, in Ld. Auckland’s Corr. (1862), III. 423. They continue to cringe and to lick the hand that strikes them.
1880. Miss Braddon, Just as I am, i. Tim stands on end, and licks the wanderer’s face.
1885. Truth, 28 May, 844/1. The danger of licking adhesive stamps and envelopes.
absol. c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, 295. Lik not with þy tonge in a disch.
1583. Leg. Bp. St. Androis, 1091. While ane þat doun his hand and lickit.
a. 1592. H. Smith, Serm. (1637), 462. When Jonathan saw honey dropping, he must needs be licking.
1694. Salmon, Bate’s Dispens. (1713), 128/2. Mix for a Dose … and to be lick’d of … as need requires.
1890. L. C. d’Oyle, Notches, 60. The elk … was now ‘licking’ in the little side-valley.
b. Frequent in phrases expressive of actions referred to allusively or fig., as to lick one’s fingers, to lick one’s lips, an action indicating keen relish or delighted anticipation of some dainty morsel; † to lick (another’s) fingers, to lick the fat from (one’s) beard, to cheat (him) of his gains; † to lick one’s knife, said of a parsimonious person; to lick the ground, to lick (another’s) shoe or spittle (cf. lick-spittle sb.), actions expressive of abject servility; † to lick (a patron’s) trencher, said of a parasite; to lick the dust, † the earth [a Hebraism: Vulg. terram lingere], to fall prostrate, to suffer defeat.
a. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), lxxi[i]. 9. His feondas foldan licciʓeað.
1382. Wyclif, Ps. lxxi[i]. 9. His enemys the erthe shul licken. Ibid., Micah vii. 17. Thei shuln lick dust as the serpent.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 6502. What shulde he yeve that likketh his knyf.
1500. Kennedie, Flyting w. Dunbar, 396. Thou sall lik thy lippis, and suere thou leis.
1530. Palsgr., 609/2. I lycke my lippes or fyngers after swete meate.
1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 169 b. Marchantes within the citee, sore abhorryng the Italian nation, for lickyng the fat from their beardes, and taking from them their livyng.
1555. Eden, Decades, 104. [They] with no lesse confydence licke their lippes secreately in hope of their praye.
1602. Withals’ Dict., 263. A fellow that can licke his Lordes or his ladies trencher in one smooth tale or merrie lie, and picke their purses in another.
1610. Shaks., Temp., III. ii. 27. How does thy honour? Let me licke thy shooe.
1646. J. Whitaker, Uzziah, 24. Have you not known some in a low condition, to bow and scrape, lick the spittle on the ground.
1656. Ld. Hatton, in Nicholas Papers (Camden), III. 284. He purposeth not to deale at all with my cosen Kertons frends, vnless it be for mault, and that too in an honorable and considerable way without licking my fingars.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 526. Oft he [the serpent] bowd His turret Crest … and lick’d the ground whereon she trod.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 5, ¶ 2. Sparrows for the Opera, says his Friend, licking his Lips, what, are they to be roasted?
1808. Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XIII. 1009. He should have learnt to lick spittle, and have drilled himself to crawl upon his belly.
1860. Reade, Cloister & H., lv. (1896), 162. He found the surly inn-keepers licked the very ground before him now.
c. in proverbial sayings.
1523. Skelton, Garl. Laurel, 1438. Wele wotith the cat whos berde she likkith.
1539. Taverner, Erasm. Prov. (1545), 19. He is an euyll cooke that can not lycke his owne fyngers.
1619. Hollyband, Fr. Schoolem., 100 b.
1822. Scott, Nigel, vi. They say, a good cook knows how to lick his own fingers.
d. With adverbs, e.g., over; to take in or up by licking. With away, † forth, off, out, and with prep. off: To remove by licking.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in Cott. Hom., 185. Huni þer in beoþ liked of þornes.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2858. Þan es sco [Lot’s wife, or the pillar of salt] liked al a-way.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), IV. 93. Hanibal likked venym of his owne rynge.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 247. Þe bysschop wyth his tunge lykkyd it out lowly.
1567. Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.), 40. And oft thay [the doggis] did this catiue man refresche Lickand the fylth furth of his laithlie flesche.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 632. My Hell-hounds, to lick up the draff and filth.
1721. Ramsay, Prospect Plenty, ix. O’er lang, in troth, have we by-standers been, And loot fowk lick the white out of our een.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), III. 77. Their [cows] practice of licking off their hair. Ibid., VII. 175. The serpent … was seen to lick the whole body over.
1822. Lamb, Elia, Ser. I. Praise Chimneysw. It was a pleasure to see the sable younkers lick in the unctuous meat.
e. With complementary adj. expressing the result, e.g., to lick clean. † To lick whole: to heal of wounds or sores by licking; in quots. fig.
c. 1550. Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893), 32. If anie men haue licked theim selues whole youe be the same.
1596. Bp. W. Barlow, Three Serm., i. 129. Who vnder a shew of licking them whole, suck out euen their hart blood.
1607. Hieron, Wks., I. 366. It is not a limme of Satan which is wounded: he might then licke himselfe whole.
1670. Ray, Prov., 211. And yet betwixt them both, they lick’t the platters clean.
1681. Dryden, Sp. Fryar, II. iii. If there were no more in Excommunication than the Church’s Censure, a wise Man wou’d lick his Conscience whole with a wet Finger.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull, IV. vi. He would quickly lick himself whole again, by his vails.
† 2. To lap with the tongue; to drink, sip. Also intr. constr. of, on. Obs.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1521. So long likked þise lordes þise lykores swete.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Kings xxi. 19. In this place, in the which houndis lickiden the blood of Naboth, shulen lick and thi blood.
c. 1400–50. Alexander, 3826. Sum of his awen vryn & sum on Iren lickid.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VIII. Prol. 139. Sum langis for the liffyr ill to lik of ane quart.
1535. Coverdale, Judg. vii. 5. Whosoeuer licketh of the water with his tunge, as a dogg licketh.
1583. Melbancke, Philotimus, 100. The Cat would licke milke, but she will not wette her feete.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, XXI. 148. Lie there, and feed the fishes, which shall lick Thy blood secure.
3. transf. and fig. (from 1 and 2). a. Of persons and animals. Formerly in many specialized uses. † To lick up (an enemy’s forces): to destroy, ‘annihilate’ (after Num. xxii. 4). † To lick (a person) of something: to cheat, ‘fleece.’ † To lick the letter: to use alliteration. † To lick of the whip: to have a taste of punishment.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., iii. 378. In fayth and for youre long taryyng Ye shal lik on the whyp.
[1535. Coverdale, Num. xxii. 4. Now shal this heape licke up all that is aboute vs, euen as an oxe licketh vp the grasse in the field.]
1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 126. Yet sometyme thei wer slain, taken, and licked vp, or thei were ware.
1557. in Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), III. 388. Three hundred of them [Gascons] be licked up by the way.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 259 b. They confesse the craft themselues, wherby they licked vs of our money.
1599. Marston, Sco. Villanie, I. iv. 188. A crewe … That lick the tail of greatnesse with their lips.
1605. Camden, Rem. (1637), 34. The English and Welsh delighted much in licking the letter.
1642. Fuller, Holy & Prof. St., V. ix. 391. Hypocrites rather then they will lose a drop of praise will lick it up with their own tongue.
1647. Trapp, Comm. Ep. & Rev., App. 690. Till he had licked of the whip, and learned better language.
1726. Life Penn, in Wks. 1782, I. 136. Those very lies … which himself had now licked up afresh.
b. Of inanimate agents (chiefly waves, flame, etc.): To lap, play lightly over, etc.; to take up (moisture, etc.) in passing over. Sometimes with personification.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 276. Seo lyft liccað and atyhð ðone wætan of ealre eorþan.
1635. Swan, Spec. M., v. § 2 (1643), 149. Untill the sunne or the wind have licked the tops of the grasse and flowers.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 698. Feavers … rack their Limbs, and lick the vital Heat.
1827. Pollok, Course T., III. Consumption licked her blood.
1856. J. H. Newman, Callista, 154. The tide of human beings licking the base of the hill, rushed vehemently on one side.
1885–94. R. Bridges, Eros & Psyche, Dec. xxvi. An upleaping jet Of cold Cocytus, which for ever licks Earth’s base.
1891. T. Hardy, Tess, II. xxiv. The wheels … licked up the pulverized surface of the highway.
1893. Earl Dunmore, Pamirs, I. 45. The flames … ruthlessly licked up everything in their path of destruction.
1900. Blackw. Mag., July, 59/2. Fires had consumed the underbrush and licked the branches off the giant trees till they had died.
c. Sc. To lick one’s winning(s: To make the best of one’s bargain.
1776. C. Keith, Farmer’s Ha’ (1796), 144. But now let us our winning lick (He cry’d in pet).
1794. Burns, ‘O merry hae I been,’ 9. Bitter in dool I lickit my winnins, O’ marrying Bess, to gie her a slave.
4. To lick (a person or thing) into (shape, etc.), also † to lick over: To give form and regularity to; to mold, make presentable. Alluding to the alleged practice of bears with their young (see quots.).
[1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), IV. xxiv. 70. Beres ben brought forthe al fowle and transformyd and after that by lyckynge of the fader and the moder they ben brought in to theyr kyndely shap.]
1612. Chapman, Widowes T., Wks. 1873, III. 31. He has not licked his whelp into full shape yet.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., Democr. to Rdr. (1676), 7/2. Enforced, as a Bear doth her Whelps, to bring forth this confused lump, I had not time to lick it into form.
a. 1639. Wotton, in Reliq. (1685), 444. The Author hath licked them [verses] over.
1699. Burnet, 39 Art., xxviii. (1700), 339. Men did not know how to mould and frame it; but at last it was licked into shape.
1702. Eng. Theophrast., 4. The play is writ, the Players upon the recommendation of those that lick’d it over, like their parts to a Fondness.
1780. Wesley, Wks. (1872), IX. 509. Mr. Law, by taking immense pains, has licked it into some shape.
1862. Mrs. Carlyle, Lett., III. 132. I shall have trouble enough in licking her [a young servant] into shape.
1891. Spectator, 12 Dec., 837. Their proposals … would be licked, by debate … into practicable shape.
5. Contemptuously used for: To smear with cosmetics; to varnish, to smarten with paint; to ‘sleek,’ give smooth finish to (a picture).
1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, Wks. (Grosart), III. 99. Spending a whole forenoone euerie day in spunging and licking himselfe by the glasse.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Lickt, Pictures new Varnished, Houses new Whitened, or Women’s Faces with a Wash.
1853. T. Taylor, Life B. R. Haydon, III. 212. Modern cartoons with few exceptions are licked (smoothed) and polished intentionally.
6. slang. To beat, thrash. Also, to drive (something) out of (a person) by thrashing. † To lick off: to cut off clean, to slice off.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1858), I. 144. Leggis war likkit of hard of at the kne.
1567. Harman, Caveat, s.v. (Farmer), Lycke, to beate.
1719. Ramsay, To Hamilton, vi. May I be licket wi’ a bittle, Gin of your numbers I think little.
1732. Fielding, Mock Doctor, I. ii. Suppose I’ve a mind he should drub, Whose bones are they, Sir, he’s to lick?
1775. Mad. D’Arblay, Diary, Let. to Mr. Crisp, 19 Nov. As for … your father, I could lick him for his affected coolness and moderation.
1828. Darwin, in Life & Lett. (1888), I. 167. How these poor dogs must have been licked.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. viii. (1871), 109. Say you won’t fag—they’ll soon get tired of licking you.
1879. Spurgeon, Serm., XXV. 542. Almost as free as America in the olden time, when every man was free to lick his own nigger.
1881. [Lillie Chace Wyman], in Atlantic Monthly, XLIX. 41/2. Well, I ’ve tried to lick the badness out of him…. You can, out of some boys, you know.
b. slang. To overcome, get the better of; to excel, surpass. It licks me: I cannot explain it. Also to lick into fits: to defeat thoroughly.
1800. in Spirit Pub. Jrnls., IV. 232. By Dane, Saxon, or Pict We had never been lick’d Had we stuck to the king of the island.
1836. F. B. Head, Lett., in Smiles, Mem. J. Murray (1891), II. xxxi. 366. I believe we shall lick the radicals.
1847. De Quincey, Milton v. Southey & Landor, Wks. (1859), XII. 179. Greece was … proud … of having licked him [an enemy].
1879. E. Walford, Londiniana, I. 37. If we have a war and beat Russia or lick Abyssinia into fits.
1889. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xxiv. It licked me to think it had been hid away all the time. Ibid. (1890), Col. Reformer (1891), 195. As a seller of unparalleled generosity, we can’t be licked.
1900. Speaker, 8 Sept., 618. We must either lick and rule these savages or run away.
absol. 1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., xii. (1889), 114. I believe that a gentleman will always lick in a fair fight.
7. slang. intr. To ride at full speed.
1889. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xxi. A horseman … rattled down the stony track as hard as he could lick.
8. Combs.: lick-box nonce-wd. ? = LICK-DISH; lick-fingers, one who licks his fingers (used as a term of abuse); lick-foot nonce-wd., the action of licking the feet, servility; † lick-halter (see quot.); lick-ladle, a parasite; lick-log, a block of salt for cattle to lick; lick-ma-dowp Sc. nonce-wd., a sycophant; lick-platter, a parasite; lick-sauce = LICK-DISH; lick-spit = LICK-SPITTLE; lick-trencher = lick-platter; lick-up, (a) something that licks up (see quot. 1844); (b) something ‘licked’ into shape (see quot. 1851–61). Also LICK-DISH, LICK-PENNY, LICK-POT, LICK-SPIGOT, LICK-SPITTLE.
1611. Cotgr., Liche-casse, a *lick-box, a sweet-lips.
1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, II. xxx. Achilles was a scauld pated maker of hay bundles, Agamemnon a lick-box.
1595. Locrine, III. iv. F 2 b. You stopsauce, *lickfingers, will you not heare?
[1625. B. Jonson, Staple News, The Persons of the Play, Lickfinger, a Master Cooke, and parcell Poet.] Ibid. (1630), New Inn, II. ii. No flattery for’t, No *lick-foot, pain of losing your proboscis.
1611. Florio, Lecca fune, a *licke-halter, a knauish wag, a gallowes-clapper.
1849. G. P. R. James, Woodman, ii. ‘Who and what is he?’ ‘A *lickladle of the court, lady.’
1840. Haliburton, Clockm., Ser. III. xii. I like a man to be up to the notch, and stand to his *lick-log.
1724. Ramsay, Vision, xxiii. Quhen thus redust to howps, They dander, and wander About pure *lickmadowps.
1853. Lytton, My Novel, VI. xxiii. II. 186. No *lick-platter, no parasite, no toadeater.
1822. T. Mitchell, Aristoph., II. 302. Him … who has A smutty tale for ev’ry rich man’s table? *Lickspit and flatterer both!
1833. Sarah Austin, Charac. Goethe, II. 35. To play … the lickspit about the court of Weimar.
1571. Golding, Caivin on Ps., To Rdr. 9. Not onely *licktrenchers but also claw backs, which curry fauour with great men by their false appeachings.
1787. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Ode upon Ode, Wks. 1816, I. 298. Butlers and lick-trenchers.
1844. Mech. Mag., XL. 47. [Of Silver plating.] When cool the hammer is allowed to fall upon the lead, to which it firmly adheres by means of a plate roughed as a rasp, which is called the *lick-up.
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 34. A ‘lick-up’ is a boot or shoe re-lasted to take the wrinkles out … and then blacked up to hide blemishes.
