spasmodic twitching of a particular group of muscles
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
tic /tɪk/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Pathologya sudden, painless, involuntary muscular movement, as of the face:His tic grew worse as he got more and more nervous.
tic
(tik),USA pronunciation n.
-tic,
- Pathology
- a sudden, spasmodic, painless, involuntary muscular contraction, as of the face.
- See tic douloureux.
- a persistent or recurrent behavioral trait;
personal quirk:her distinctive verbal tics.
- French (of expressive origin, originally)
- 1790–1800
-tic,
- a suffix, equivalent in meaning to -ic, occurring in adjectives of Greek origin (analytic), used esp. in the formation of adjectives from nouns with stems in -sis: hematotic;
neurotic.
- Greek -tikos, extracted from adjs. derived with -ikos -ic from agent nouns ending in -tēs; compare hieratic
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'tic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-cy
- Americanist
- Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
- Ancient Mystic Order Rosae Crucis
- absolutism
- acetic acid
- acetic acid amide
- acetic anhydride
- acetic ether
- acetoacetic acid
- acoustic
- acoustic coupler
- acoustic feature
- acoustic feedback
- acoustic guitar
- acoustic impedance
- acoustic inertance
- acoustic mine
- acoustic nerve
- acoustic ohm
- acoustic phonetics
- acoustic reactance
- acoustic resistance
- acoustic theodolite
- acoustic torpedo
- acoustooptics
- actualism
- adiaphorism
- adipopexia
- adventurism
- aeroballistics
- aeromancy
- aeronautical
- albinism
- algetic
- alkahest
- ameloblast
- aminoacetic acid
- amorist
- amyl acetate
- anabatic
- analects
- analeptic
- analogist
- analytic
- anankastic personality
- anapest
- anaphylactic shock
- anarchist
- angioblast