FLICK

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flick mean? 

• FLICK (noun)
  The noun FLICK has 3 senses:

1. a light sharp contact (usually with something flexible)

2. a short stroke

3. a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement

  Familiarity information: FLICK used as a noun is uncommon.

• FLICK (verb)
  The verb FLICK has 9 senses:

1. flash intermittently

2. look through a book or other written material

3. cause to move with a flick

4. throw or toss with a quick motion

5. shine unsteadily

6. twitch or flutter

7. cause to make a snapping sound

8. touch or hit with a light, quick blow

9. remove with a flick (of the hand)

  Familiarity information: FLICK used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLICK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A light sharp contact (usually with something flexible)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

he felt the flick of a whip

Hypernyms ("flick" is a kind of...):

contact; impinging; striking (the physical coming together of two or more things)

Derivation:

flick (throw or toss with a quick motion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A short stroke

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("flick" is a kind of...):

stroke (a mark made on a surface by a pen, pencil, or paintbrush)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

film; flick; motion-picture show; motion picture; movie; moving-picture show; moving picture; pic; picture; picture show

Context example:

the film was shot on location

Hypernyms ("flick" is a kind of...):

product; production (an artifact that has been created by someone or some process)

show (a social event involving a public performance or entertainment)

Meronyms (parts of "flick"):

episode; sequence (film consisting of a succession of related shots that develop a given subject in a movie)

credits (a list of acknowledgements of those who contributed to the creation of a film (usually run at the end of the film))

caption; subtitle (translation of foreign dialogue of a movie or TV program; usually displayed at the bottom of the screen)

credit (an entry on a list of persons who contributed to a film or written work)

scene; shot (a consecutive series of pictures that constitutes a unit of action in a film)

Domain member category:

dub (provide (movies) with a soundtrack of a foreign language)

synchronise; synchronize (make (motion picture sound) exactly simultaneous with the action)

film; shoot; take (make a film or photograph of something)

tape; videotape (record on videotape)

reshoot (shoot again)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flick"):

cinema verite (a movie that shows ordinary people in actual activities without being controlled by a director)

musical; musical comedy; musical theater (a play or film whose action and dialogue is interspersed with singing and dancing)

3-D; 3D; three-D (a movie with images having three dimensional form or appearance)

talkie; talking picture (a movie with synchronized speech and singing)

slow motion (a movie that apparently takes place at a slower than normal speed; achieved by taking the film at a faster rate)

silent movie; silent picture; silents (a movie without a soundtrack)

rough cut (the first print of a movie after preliminary editing)

skin flick (a pornographic movie)

film noir (a movie that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, menace, and cynical characters)

telefilm (a movie that is made to be shown on television)

docudrama; documentary; documentary film; infotainment (a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event)

short subject (a brief film; often shown prior to showing the feature)

shoot-'em-up (a movie featuring shooting and violence)

coming attraction (a movie that is advertised to draw customers)

collage film (a movie that juxtaposes different kinds of footage)

home movie (a film made at home by an amateur photographer)

final cut (the final edited version of a movie as approved by the director and producer)

feature; feature film (the principal (full-length) film in a program at a movie theater)

• FLICK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flick    ... he / she / it flicks   
Past simple: flicked   
Past participle: flicked   
-ing form: flicking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Flash intermittently

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

flick; flicker

Context example:

The lights flicked on and off

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

blink; flash; twinkle; wink; winkle (gleam or glow intermittently)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Look through a book or other written material

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

flick; flip; leaf; riff; riffle; thumb

Context example:

She leafed through the volume

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

peruse (examine or consider with attention and in detail)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to move with a flick

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

flick; flip

Context example:

he flicked his Bic

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

throw (propel through the air)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Throw or toss with a quick motion

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

flick; jerk

Context example:

jerk his head

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

flick (a light sharp contact (usually with something flexible))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Shine unsteadily

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

flick; flicker

Context example:

The candle flickered

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

beam; shine (emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

Lights flick on the horizon
The horizon is flicking with lights

Sense 6

Meaning:

Twitch or flutter

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

flick; riffle; ruffle

Context example:

the paper flicked

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Cause to make a snapping sound

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

click; flick; snap

Context example:

snap your fingers

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Touch or hit with a light, quick blow

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

flicked him with his hand

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

brush (touch lightly and briefly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 9

Meaning:

Remove with a flick (of the hand)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "flick" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

 Context examples 

He, however, blinking with puckered eyes, reached up his kerchief, and flicked the beast twice across the snout with it.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Flick them in the face with a wet towel, and flick them hard.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“It has been in some points a singular case,” said Holmes, flicking the horse on into a gallop.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Vy, from vot I see, he cried, in his high, broken treble, there’s some on you that ain’t fit to flick a fly from a joint o’ meat.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In his youth One Eye had once sniffed too near a similar, apparently inert ball of quills, and had the tail flick out suddenly in his face.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But the porcupine, squealing and grunting, with disrupted anatomy trying feebly to roll up into its ball-protection, flicked out its tail again, and again the big cat squalled with hurt and astonishment.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly beneath us.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He dipped the end of a towel in cold water and with it began to flick him on the face, his wife all the while holding her face between her hands and sobbing in a way that was heart-breaking to hear.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The rusted gates between the crumbling heraldic pillars were folded back, and my uncle flicked the mares impatiently as we flew up the weed-grown avenue, until he pulled them on their haunches before the time-blotched steps.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Nor is any occasion too small to take note of, for I have known such trifles as the dropping of a gauntlet, or the flicking of a breadcrumb, when well and properly followed up, lead to a most noble spear-running.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)