stick

Etymology 1

From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod, twig”), from Old English sticca (“rod, twig”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stikke (“stick”), West Flemish stik (“stick”). Doublet of stigma.

noun

1. An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
   1. A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch.
      The beaver's dam was made out of sticks.
      Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
   2. A relatively long, thin piece of wood, of any size.
      I found several good sticks in the brush heap.
      What do you call a boomerang that won't come back? A stick.
      It is a fine stick, about 70 feet long. August 23 1887, “At Work on the Thistle”, in The New York Times
   3. (US) A timber board, especially a two by four (inches).
      I found enough sticks in dumpsters at construction sites to build my shed.
   4. A cane or walking stick (usually wooden, metal or plastic) to aid in walking.
      I don’t need my stick to walk, but it’s helpful.
   5. A cudgel or truncheon (usually of wood, metal or plastic), especially one carried by police or guards.
      As soon as the fight started, the guards came in swinging their sticks.
   6. (carpentry) The vertical member of a cope-and-stick joint.
      When cutting the door parts, I cut all the copes first, then the sticks. 1997, Joseph Beals, “Building Interior Doors”, in Doors, Taunton Press, page 82
   7. (nautical) A mast or part of a mast of a ship; also, a yard.
   8. (figurative) A piece (of furniture, especially if wooden).
      We were so poor we didn't have one stick of furniture.
      It is more than poor Philip is worth, with all his savings and his little sticks of furniture. 1862, W.M. Thackeray, The Adventures of Philip, printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine volume XXV edition, page 242
2. Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.
   1. (chiefly Canada, US) A small rectangular block, with a length several times its width, which contains by volume one half of a cup of shortening (butter, margarine or lard).
      The recipe calls for half a stick of butter.
   2. A standard rectangular strip of chewing gum.
      Don’t hog all that gum, give me a stick!
   3. (slang) A cigarette (usually a tobacco cigarette, less often a marijuana cigarette).
      Cigarettes are taxed at one dollar per stick.
3. Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.
   1. A bunch of something wrapped around or attached to a stick.
      My parents bought us each a stick of cotton candy.
   2. (archaic) A scroll that is rolled around (mounted on, attached to) a stick.
      Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it[…] 1611, The Bible, King James Version edition, Ezekiel 37:16
   3. (military) The structure to which a set of bombs in a bomber aircraft are attached and which drops the bombs when it is released. The bombs themselves and, by extension, any load of similar items dropped in quick succession such as paratroopers or containers.
      Scores of transport planes streamed in to drop stick after stick of containers until the entire sky over the coast was polka-dotted with brightly coloured parachutes. 2001, Raymond Mitchell, Commando Despatch Rider, page 70
      A stick of bombs fell straight across Wotton; blew up half a dozen houses. 2006, Farley Mowat, Aftermath: Travels in a Post-War World, page 200
      James and I were in the same stick of five guys going through free fall school last September. 2006, Holly Aho, From Here to There, page 48
4. A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
   1. (US, colloquial) A manual transmission, a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, so called because of the stick-like, i.e. twig-like, control (the gear shift) with which the driver of such a vehicle controls its transmission.
      I grew up driving a stick, but many people my age didn’t.
      1. (US, colloquial, uncountable) Vehicles, collectively, equipped with manual transmissions.
         I grew up driving stick, but many people my age didn't.
   2. (aviation) The control column of an aircraft; a joystick. (By convention, a wheel-like control mechanism with a handgrip on opposite sides, similar to the steering wheel of an automobile, can also be called the "stick", although "yoke" or "control wheel" is more commonly seen.)
   3. (aviation, uncountable) Use of the stick to control the aircraft.
      For example: in making a turn, should you throw on too much stick and not enough rudder, you'll sideslip. 1941, Jay D. Blaufox, 33 Lessons in Flying, page 47
   4. (video games) A joystick.
   5. (computing) A memory stick.
      For ultimate presentation portability, a Powerpoint can be saved to a stick as images. May 1 2007, Alex Fethiere, “Business Traveler”, in Tech front: Alex Fethiere takes eleven notable portables for a high-tech test-drive
   6. (slang) A handgun.
      A stick in the hand, a drop in the eye. 2007-09-18, “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya”, in Joseph B. Geoghegan (lyrics), The Meanest of Times, performed by Dropkick Murphys
      You think you’re real now you’ve got a couple sticks? My favourite younger, he got stabbed in my bits. And if he died fam, I promise I’d have quit. 2013-04-08, “Off the Record”, in Topic of Discussion, performed by Yungen
      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
   7. (dated, letterpress typography) A composing stick, the tool used by compositors to assemble lines of type.
      […]although the headings may often be in other type, still, as these are composed in the same stick, they cannot fail to justify;[…] 1854, Thomas Ford, The Compositor's Handbook, page 125
   8. (jazz, slang) The clarinet.
      Arsene, boy, ain't you worried about your clarinet? Where'd you leave that stick, man? 1948, Frederic Ramsey, Jr., “Deep Sea Rider”, in Charles Harvey, editor, Jazz Parody: Anthology of Jazz Fiction
5. (sports) A stick-like item:
   1. (sports, generically) A long thin implement used to control a ball or puck in sports like hockey, polo, and lacrosse.
      Tripping with the stick is a violation of the rules.
   2. (horse racing) The short whip carried by a jockey.
   3. (boardsports) A board as used in board sports, such as a surfboard, snowboard, or skateboard.
   4. (golf) The pole bearing a small flag that marks the hole.
      His wedge shot bounced off the stick and went in the hole.
   5. (US, slang, uncountable) The cue used in billiards, pool, snooker, etc.
      His stroke with that two-piece stick is a good as anybody's in the club.
      1. The game of pool, or an individual pool game.
         He shoots a mean stick of pool.
         Come in, have a good time, drink some beer, shoot some stick, listen to some music. 2003, Lew Bryson, New York Breweries, page 74
6. (sports, uncountable) Ability; specifically:
   1. (golf) The long-range driving ability of a golf club.
      I doubted that the three iron was enough stick. 1988, William Hallberg, The Rub of the Green, page 219
   2. (baseball) The potential hitting power of a specific bat.
   3. (baseball) General hitting ability.
      Vaughn has to hit and keep hitting or this will be another year when the Mets don't have enough stick to win. May 19 2002, Mike Lupica, “Just Need A Little Mo”, in New York Daily News
   4. (field hockey or ice hockey) The potential accuracy of a hockey stick, implicating also the player using it.
7. (slang, dated) A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
   1. A thin or wiry person; particularly a flat-chested woman.
      "She's a stick, this one. She lacks your—" he patted her left breast— "equipment." 1967, Cecelia Holland, Rakóssy, page 39
   2. (magic) An assistant planted in the audience.
      The kid was a stick, a plant, a student from UNLV who picked up a few bucks nightly by saying the words "seven of hearts." 2001, Paul Quarrington, The Spirit Cabinet, page 255
   3. (gambling) A shill or house player.
      A shill is also called a stick, and the role of the shill or stick is to make the customer relax and feel at ease. 2011, Howard Fast, Helen
   4. A stiff, stupidly obstinate person.
   5. (military aviation, from joystick) A fighter pilot.
      Bill Kirk, described by Robin as a "hell of a stick," didn't even attend college until after the Vietnam War. 2001, John Darrell Sherwood, Fast Movers: America's Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience, page 30
   6. (military, South Africa) A small group of (infantry) soldiers.
      I remember when we dreaded the rain, as our stick of soldiers walked through the damp, tick-infested long grass of the Zambezi valley,[…] 2007, Bart Wolffe, Persona Non Grata, page 245
8. Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.
   1. (figurative) A negative stimulus or a punishment. (This sense derives from the metaphor of using a stick, a long piece of wood, to poke or beat a beast of burden to compel it to move forward.)
      Coordinate term: carrot
      What about contempt? Isn't it used by the judiciary as a stick to dissuade people from writing or talking about them? January 23 1998, “Judicial activism has ushered in hope”, in Indian Express
      Back in 2009, when Democrats tried but failed to take significant climate action, their policy proposals consisted mainly of sticks—limits on emissions in the form of permits that businesses could buy and sell. 2023-08-07, Paul Krugman, “Climate Is Now a Culture War Issue”, in The New York Times
   2. (slang, uncountable) Corporal punishment; beatings.
      The child killers got some stick. I saw a woman throw a basin of scalding water over a baby killer. 1999, Eve McDougall, A Wicked Fist, page 69
   3. (slang) Vigor; spirit; effort, energy, intensity.
      He really gave that digging some stick. He threw himself into the task of digging.
      She really gave that bully some stick. She berated him. This sense melts into the previous sense, "punishment".
      Give it some stick!
      'Choir gave it some stick on "Unto Us a Son is Born."' ¶ Cynthia nodded. ¶ 'It was always one of Russell's favourites. He makes them try hard on that.' 1979, Don Bannister, Sam Chard, page 185
   4. (slang) Vigorous driving of a car; gas.
      Skunk really gave it some stick all the way to Caliban's place, we passed a good few Coppers but they all seemed to turn the blind eye. 2006, Martyn J. Pass, Dani Pass, Waiting for Red, page 163
9. A measure.
   1. (obsolete) An English Imperial unit of length equal to 2 inches.
      There was another speech in that day's news — a speech which The Times printed on the front page because it was part of a front-page story, and in full — it was only two sticks long; printed in full just after the much longer invocation by the officiating clergyman […] 1921, Elmer Davis, History of the New York Times, 1851-1921, page 61
   2. (archaic, rare) A quantity of eels, usually 25.
      The stick is employed for eels, and contained twenty-five. 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Volume 1, page 171
      In the same charter, Nigel granted another 10 sticks of eels yielded by the fishery of Polwere to the abbey[…] 1999, Claire Breay, The Cartulary of Chatteris Abbey, page 62

verb

1. (carpentry) To cut a piece of wood to be the stick member of a cope-and-stick joint.
2. (transitive, printing, slang, dated) To compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick.
   to stick type
3. (transitive) To furnish or set with sticks.

Etymology 2

From Middle English stiken (“to stick, pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Proto-Germanic *stikōną (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tig-, *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). See also the related Proto-Germanic *stikaną, whence West Frisian stekke, Low German steken, Dutch steken, German stechen; compare also Danish stikke, Swedish sticka. Cognate with the first etymology (same PIE root, different paths through Germanic and Old English), to stitch, and to etiquette, via French étiquette – see there for further discussion.

noun

1. (motor racing) The traction of tires on the road surface.
2. (fishing) The amount of fishing line resting on the water surface before a cast; line stick.
   Problem: A lot of stick and a lack of energy on the forward stroke. 2004, Simon Gawesworth, Spey Casting, page 47
3. A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab.

verb

1. (intransitive) To become or remain attached; to adhere.
   Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. 2013-06-14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18
   The tape will not stick if it melts.
2. (intransitive) To jam; to stop moving.
   The lever sticks if you push it too far up.
3. (transitive) To tolerate, to endure, to stick with.
   Why do most course organizers stick the job for less than five years? 1998, Patrick McEvoy, Educating the Future GP: the course organizer's handbook, page 7
4. (intransitive) To persist.
   His old nickname stuck.
   "Our team did brilliantly to be in the game. We stuck at it and did a good job. This is disappointing but we'll think about the next game tomorrow." December 10, 2011, David Ornstein quoting David Moyes, “Arsenal 1-0 Everton”, in BBC Sport
5. (intransitive) Of snow, to remain frozen on landing.
6. (intransitive) To remain loyal; to remain firm.
   What I get from work makes me a better mother, and what I get from being a mother makes me a better journalist. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 2007, Amanda Lamb, Smotherhood: Wickedly Funny Confessions from the Early Years
   Just stick to your strategy, and you will win.
7. (dated, intransitive) To hesitate, to be reluctant; to refuse (in negative phrases).
   Some stick not to say, that the Parson and Attorney forg’d a Will, for which they were well Paid […] 1712, John Arbuthnot, chapter 1, in Law is a Bottomless Pit, London: John Morphew
   , 2nd edition edited by Samuel Johnson, London: J. Payne, 1756, Part I, p. 12, Though a cup of cold water from some hand may not be without its reward, yet stick not thou for wine and oil for the wounds of the distressed […]
   And so careful were they to put off the Honour of great Actions from themselves, and to centre it upon God, that they stuck not sometimes to depreciate themselves that they might more effectually honour him. 1740, James Blair, Our Saviour's divine sermon on the mount … explained, volume 3, page 26
   The First-fruits were a common Oblation to their Deities; but the chief Part of their Worship consisted in sacrificiing Animals : And this they did out of a real Persuasion, that their Gods were pleased with their Blood, and were nourished with the Smoke, and Nidor of them; and therefore the more costly, they thought them the more acceptable, for which Reason, they stuck not sometimes to regale them with human Sacrifices. 1743, Thomas Stackhouse, A Compleat Body of Speculative and Practical Divinity, edition 3 (London), page 524
8. (dated, intransitive) To be puzzled (at something), have difficulty understanding.
9. (dated, intransitive) To cause difficulties, scruples, or hesitation.
   1708, Jonathan Swift, The Sentiments of a Church-of-England-Man, with respect to Religion and Government, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, 7th edition, Edinburgh: G. Hamilton et al., 1752, Volume I, Miscellanies in Prose, p. 73, […] this is the Difficulty that seemeth chiefly to stick with the most reasonable of those, who, from a mere Scruple of Conscience, refuse to join with us upon the Revolution Principle […] .
10. (transitive) To attach with glue or as if by gluing.
    Stick the label on the jar.
11. (transitive) To place, set down (quickly or carelessly).
    Stick your bag over there and come with me.
    Afore we got to the shanty Colonel Applegate stuck his head out of the door. His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
12. (transitive) To press (something with a sharp point) into something else.
    The balloon will pop when I stick this pin in it.
    to stick a needle into one's finger
    1. (transitive, now only in dialects) To stab.
       In certain of their sacrifices they had a lamb, they sticked him, they killed him, and made sacrifice of him: this lamb was Christ the Son of God, he was killed, sticked, and made a sweet-smelling sacrifice for our sins. circa 1583, John Jewel, in a sermon republished in 1847 in The Works of John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, portion 2, page 969
       […] would haue [=have] sticked him with a dagger […] 1809, Grafton's chronicle, or history of England, volume 2, page 135
       The defendant said he didn't shoot; "he sticked him with a knife." 1908, The Northeastern Reporter, volume 85, page 693
13. (transitive) To fix on a pointed instrument; to impale.
    to stick an apple on a fork
14. (transitive, archaic) To adorn or deck with things fastened on as by piercing.
15. (transitive, gymnastics) To perform (a landing) perfectly.
    Once again, the world champion sticks the dismount.
16. (botany, transitive) To propagate plants by cuttings.
    Stick cuttings from geraniums promptly.
17. (transitive, joinery) To run or plane (mouldings) in a machine, in contradistinction to working them by hand. Such mouldings are said to be stuck.
18. (dated, transitive) To bring to a halt; to stymie; to puzzle.
    to stick somebody with a hard problem
19. (transitive, slang, dated) To impose upon; to compel to pay; sometimes, to cheat.
    Chillin' in a Benz with my amigos / Tryin' to stick a nigga for his pesos 1996, “No Time”, in Hard Core, performed by Lil' Kim ft. Diddy
20. (intransitive, US, slang) To have sexual intercourse with.
    You ain't lickin' this, you ain't stickin' this 1996, Lil' Kim (lyrics and music), “Not Tonight”
    You leave your girl around me; if she's bad she's gonna get stuck. 2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG
21. (intransitive, blackjack, chiefly UK) To stand pat: to cease taking any more cards and finalize one's hand.

adj

1. (informal) Likely to stick; sticking, sticky.
   A non-stick pan. A stick plaster.
   A sticker type of glue. The stickest kind of gum.

Etymology 3

Possibly a metaphorical use of the first etymology ("twig, branch"), possibly derived from the Yiddish schtick.

noun

1. (Britain, uncountable) Criticism or ridicule.
   I got some stick personally because of my walking attire. I arrived to training fully kitted out in sturdy walking boots. May 3 2008, Chris Roberts, “It’s a stroll in the park!”, in Huddersfield Daily Examiner