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Old vs Sick - What's the difference?

old | sick |

As nouns the difference between old and sick

is that old is age while sick is sick people in general as a group.

As an adjective sick is

in poor health.

As a verb sick is

to vomit or sick can be (rare).

old

English

(wikipedia old)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
  • :
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
  • #Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
  • #:
  • #Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
  • #:
  • Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
  • :
  • Having existed or lived for the specified time.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) Of an earlier time.
  • #Former, previous.
  • #:
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • #*1994 , Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
  • #*:But over my old life, a new life had formed.
  • #That is no longer in existence.
  • #:
  • #Obsolete; out-of-date.
  • #:
  • #Familiar.
  • #:
  • Tiresome.
  • :
  • Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  • A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
  • :
  • (lb) Excessive, abundant.
  • *1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :
  • *:URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;
  • Synonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) ancient, long in the tooth * (having lived for many years) aged, ageing / aging, elderly, long in the tooth, on in years * (having existed or lived for the specified time) aged, of age * (former) erstwhile, ex-, former, one-time, past * (out-of-date) antiquated, obsolete (words) * See also

    Antonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) brand new, fresh, new * (having lived for many years) young * (former) current, latest, new

    Derived terms

    * age-old * any old * big old * good old * little old * old age * old-age * Old Akkadian * Old Armenian * Old Assyrian * old as the hills * Old Babylonian * Old Blighty * Old Bulgarian * Old Church Slavic * Old Church Slavonic * old college try * old country * Old Czech * Old Dutch * olden * Old Egyptian * Old English * old fart * old-fashioned * old flame * Old Flemish * old fogey * old franc * Old Franconian * Old Frankish * Old French * Old Frisian * Old Glory * old gold * old growth * old guard * old hand * old hat * Old High German * Old Icelandic * oldies * Old Indic * Old Indo-Aryan * Old Ionic * Old Iranian * Old Irish * old lace * old lady * Old Latin * Old Low Franconian * Old Low Frankish * Old Low German * old maid * old man * old money * Old Nick * Old Norse * Old North French * Old Norwegian * old penny * Old Persian * * Old Prussian * old regime * Old Russian * olds * old salt * old saw * Old Saxon * Old Scandinavian * old school * Old Slavic * Old Slavonic * old sweat * Old Testament * old-time * old-timer * Old Welsh * old woman * Old World * old-world * over-old * same old same old * same old story * some old * you can't put an old head on young shoulders

    Noun

    (usually used as plural)
  • People who are old; old beings; the older generation; usually used with the .
  • A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

    Statistics

    *

    sick

    English

    (wikipedia sick)

    Etymology 1

    Middle English sek, sik, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • In poor health.
  • * {{quote-book, year=a1420, year_published=1894, author=The British Museum Additional MS, 12,056
  • , by=(Lanfranc of Milan), title=Lanfranc's "Science of cirurgie." citation , chapter=Wounds complicated by the Dislocation of a Bone, isbn=1163911380 , publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, location=London, editor=Robert von Fleischhacker , page=63, passage=Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=7 citation , passage=‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’}}
  • (colloquial) Mentally unstable, disturbed.
  • (colloquial) In bad taste.
  • Having an urge to vomit.
  • (slang) Very good, excellent, awesome.
  • In poor condition.
  • (agriculture) Failing to sustain adequate harvests of crop, usually specified.
  • Tired of or annoyed by something.
  • Synonyms
    * (in poor health) ill, not well, poorly (British), sickly, unwell * (mentally unstable) disturbed, twisted, warped. * (having an urge to vomit) nauseated, nauseous * rad, wicked * See also
    Antonyms
    * (in poor health) fit, healthy, well * (excellent) crap, naff, uncool
    Derived terms
    * airsick * be sick * brainsick * carsick * dogsick * fall sick * heartsick * homesick * iron-sick, iron sick, ironsick * junk sick * lovesick * nailsick, nail sick, nailsick * seasick * sick and tired * sick and twisted * sick as a dog * sick bag * sickbay * sickbed * sick building syndrome * sick day * sicken * sickening * sickhouse * sickie * sickish * sick joke * sickly * sickness * sick note * sick pay * sick puppy * sicko * sickout * sickroom * sick to one's stomach * soulsick * thoughtsick

    Noun

    (-)
  • Sick people in general as a group.
  • We have to cure the sick .
  • (colloquial) vomit.
  • He lay there in a pool of his own sick .
    Synonyms
    * (vomit) See

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To vomit.
  • :I woke up at 4 am and sicked on the floor.
  • (obsolete) To fall sick; to sicken.
  • * circa 1598 , William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, part 2 :
  • Our great-grandsire, Edward, sick'd and died.

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (rare)
  • * 1920 , James Oliver Curwood, "Back to God's Country"
  • "Wapi," she almost screamed, "go back! Sick' 'em, Wapi—'''sick''' 'em—'''sick''' 'em—' sick 'em!"
  • * 1938 , Eugene Gay-Tifft, translator, The Saga of Frank Dover by Johannes Buchholtz, 2005 Kessinger Publishing edition, ISBN 141915222X, page 125,
  • When we were at work swabbing the deck, necessarily barelegged, Pelle would sick the dog on us; and it was an endless source of pleasure to him when the dog succeeded in fastening its teeth in our legs and making the blood run down our ankles.
  • * 1957 , , 1991 LB Books edition, page 154,
  • "...is just something God sicks on people who have the gall to accuse Him of having created an ugly world."
  • * 2001 (publication date), Anna Heilman, Never Far Away: The Auschwitz Chronicles of Anna Heilman , University of Calgary Press, ISBN 1552380408, page 82,
  • Now they find a new entertainment: they sick the dog on us.
    1000 English basic words