lick

Etymology 1

From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). See also Saterland Frisian likje, Dutch likken, German lecken; also Old Irish ligid, Latin lingō (“lick”), ligguriō (“to lap, lick up”), Lithuanian laižyti, Old Church Slavonic лизати (lizati), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō), Old Armenian լիզեմ (lizem), Persian لیسیدن (lisidan), Sanskrit लेढि (léḍhi), रेढि (réḍhi).

verb

1. (transitive) To stroke with the tongue.
   The cat licked its fur.
2. (transitive) To lap; to take in with the tongue.
   She licked the last of the honey off the spoon before washing it.
   Jim closed his eyes and licked his vanilla ice cream cone.
3. (colloquial) To beat with repeated blows.
4. (colloquial) To defeat decisively, particularly in a fight.
   My dad can lick your dad.
5. (colloquial) To overcome.
   I think I can lick this.
   This week, diskery and phono manufacturer spokesmen sounded tempering notes of caution as they discussed the many problems still to be licked in developing truly compatible stereo with fidelity standards equal to those now available in monaural disks. 1957-12-30, Ren Grevatt, “Concensus Tabs Stereo Disk Still in Research Stage: Diskery and Phono Toppers Sound Tempering Notes of Caution”, in Billboard, page 11
6. (vulgar, slang) To perform cunnilingus.
7. (colloquial) To do anything partially.
8. (of flame, waves etc.) To lap.

noun

1. The act of licking; a stroke of the tongue.
   The cat gave its fur a lick.
2. The amount of some substance obtainable with a single lick.
   Give me a lick of ice cream.
3. A quick and careless application of anything, as if by a stroke of the tongue.
   a lick of paint
   to put on colours with a lick of the brush
   When ſly Jemmy Twitcher had ſmugg'd up his face / With a lick of court white waſh, 1774, Thomas Gray, “The Candidate”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Strawberry Hill Press
4. A place where animals lick minerals from the ground.
   The birds gathered at the clay lick.
5. A small watercourse or ephemeral stream. It ranks between a rill and a stream.
   We used to play in the lick.
6. (colloquial) A stroke or blow.
   Hit that wedge a good lick with the sledgehammer.
   I went in big licks, and, although it was a good-sized pile, I chopped it all up before he got back at night. 1891, Cecil Roberts, Adrift in America: Or, Work and Adventure in the States, page 148
   Who gave you your worst licks and why? 2013-04-12, “Exclusive: Meet Derpuntae - Bermuda's first meme”, in The Bermuda Sun, archived from the original on 2022-12-12
7. (colloquial) A small amount; a whit.
   You don't have a lick of sense.
   I didn't do a lick of work today.
   Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Why don't I call Jean-Michel at Il Portofino? We'll get a table outside? Ooh, I'm not getting a lick of service. Babe, can I hop on your landline? 2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1)
8. (informal) An attempt at something.
   Well, my album did well, but "Ruby" was a timely song and that wasn't the time for it to step out. […] Then Waylon Jennings took a lick at it on an album, and my old buddy Roger Miller covered it, too, in his album. And although they're outstanding artists, nothing much happened with the song. 1984, Mel Tillis, Walter Wager, Stutterin' Boy, page 170
9. (music) A short motif.
   There are some really good blues licks in this solo.
10. (informal) A rate of speed. (Always qualified by good, fair, or a similar adjective.)
    The bus was travelling at a good lick when it swerved and left the road.
    Dandy Marx, a perfect gentleman in the true sense of the word, now drives forth under single harness ; whereas “once upon a time,” he rushed over the ground at a “big lick,” reigning his four beautiful roans, and continually kicking up an extra excitement among the “fashionables.” 1852, John Denison Vose, Fresh Leaves from the Diary of a Broadway Dandy, page 109
11. (slang) An act of cunnilingus.
    You up for a lick tonight?

Etymology 2

From hit a lick, which see. Ultimately from liquor.

noun

1. An instance of earning money fast, usually by illegal means, thus a heist, drug deal etc.; mostly used in phrasal verbs: hit a lick, hit licks
   Bitch, pig, pull out with the stick / everything I hit like a lick / We don’t miss 2018-07-27, “Strip Talk”, Marty Mula (lyrics), 1:52
   JAEKAE: Free all my G’s, they got locked for licks. Five minutes of fame and I’m hittin’ for six. Past seven, eight, nine, and you’re in my bits. 2020-01-09, “1AM”, in Nasty, performed by Jaykae and Kida Kudz
   Remember on my first lick, got lost in a house / Had to dip, bro, quick, before the dogs came out 2020-04-07, “Did Alotta”, Kai Bandz (lyrics), 1:07