wick

UK: /ˈwɪk/ US: /wɪk/ ,(wik)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wick¹ /wɪk/   n. [countable]

1. a twist of soft threads that in a candle or oil lamp draws up the liquid to be burned.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wick¹  (wik), n. 

1. a bundle or loose twist or braid of soft threads, or a woven strip or tube, as of cotton or asbestos, which in a candle, lamp, oil stove, cigarette lighter, or the like, serves to draw up the melted tallow or wax or the oil or other flammable liquid to be burned.

v.t. 

2. to draw off (liquid) by capillary action.

• bef. 1000; Middle English wicke, weke, Old English wice, wēoc(e); cognate with Middle Dutch wiecke, Middle Low German wêke, Old High German wiohha lint, wick (German Wieke lint); akin to Sanskrit vāgura noose

wick′less, adj. 

wick²  (wik), n. [Curling.]

1. Sport a narrow opening in the field, bounded by other players' stones.

• origin, originally uncertain

wick³  (wik), n. 

1. British Terms a farm, esp. a dairy farm.
2. [Archaic.] a village;
   hamlet.

• Latin vīcus village, estate (see vicinity); cognate with Greek oîkos house (see ecology, economy)
• Middle English wik, wich, Old English wīc house, village (compare Old Saxon wīc, Old High German wîch) bef. 900

Wick  (wik), n. 

1. Place Names a town in the Highland region, in N Scotland: herring fisheries. 7613.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wick / wɪk/ noun

1. a cord or band of loosely twisted or woven fibres, as in a candle, cigarette lighter, etc, that supplies fuel to a flame by capillary action
2. get on someone's wick ⇒ to cause irritation to a person

verb

1. to move (moisture) by capillary action from the inside to the surface

Etymology: Old English weoce; related to Old High German wioh, Middle Dutch wēke (Dutch wiek)

wick / wɪk/ noun

1. a village or hamlet

Etymology: Old English wīc; related to -wich in place names, Latin vīcus, Greek oîkos

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Wick / wɪk/ noun

1. a town in N Scotland, in Highland, at the head of Wick Bay (an inlet of the North Sea). Pop: 7333 (2001)