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Wick vs Rick - What's the difference?

wick | rick |

As a noun wick

is a bundle, twist, braid, or woven strip of cord, fabric, fibre/fiber, or other porous material in a candle, oil lamp, kerosene heater, or the like, that draws up liquid fuel, such as melted tallow, wax, or the oil, delivering it to the base of the flame for conversion to gases and burning; any other length of material burned for illumination in small successive portions or wick can be (british|dialect|chiefly|east anglia|and|essex) a farm, especially a dairy farm or wick can be (british|dialect|chiefly|yorkshire) liveliness; life or wick can be a corner of the mouth or eye.

As a verb wick

is to convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action.

As an adjective wick

is (british|dialect|chiefly|yorkshire) alive; lively; full of life; active; bustling; nimble; quick.

As a proper noun rick is

, or sometimes of related names, such as (ricardo).

wick

English

(wikipedia wick)

Etymology 1

(etyl) weke, wicke; (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A bundle, twist, braid, or woven strip of cord, fabric, fibre/fiber, or other porous material in a candle, oil lamp, kerosene heater, or the like, that draws up liquid fuel, such as melted tallow, wax, or the oil, delivering it to the base of the flame for conversion to gases and burning; any other length of material burned for illumination in small successive portions.
  • Trim the wick fairly short, so that the flame does not smoke.
  • * Spenser
  • But true it is, that when the oil is spent / The light goes out, and wick is thrown away.
  • Any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action; a strip of gauze placed in a wound to serve as a drain.
  • (curling) A narrow opening in the field, flanked by other players' stones.
  • (curling) A shot where the played stone touches a stationary stone just enough that the played stone changes direction.
  • (slang) Penis.
  • * 2008 , Marcus Van Heller, Nest of Vixens , ISBN 9781596549449, p. 17:
  • His wick was stone stiff.
  • * 2009 , Ira Robbins, Kick It Till It Breaks , , ISBN 9780984253913, p. 130:
  • Her laugh wasn't cruel in tone, but it cut through Husk like a scalpel, withering his wick even further.
    Derived terms
    * get on someone's wick

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action.
  • The fabric wicks perspiration away from the body.
  • (of a liquid) To traverse ( be conveyed by capillary action) through a wick or other porous material, as water through a sponge. Usually followed by through.
  • The moisture slowly wicked through the wood.
  • (curling) To strike (a stone) obliquely; to strike (a stationary stone) just enough that the played stone changes direction.
  • Etymology 2

    From earlier (etyl) wik, .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (British, dialect, chiefly, East Anglia, and, Essex) A farm, especially a dairy farm.
  • (archaic) A village; hamlet; castle; dwelling; street; creek; bay; harbour; a place of work, jurisdiction, or exercise of authority.
  • Usage notes
    * Present in compounds (meaning “village”, “jurisdiction”, or “harbour”), as, bailiwick, Warwick, Greenwick, , etc., also -wich .

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (British, dialect, chiefly, Yorkshire) Alive; lively; full of life; active; bustling; nimble; quick.
  • as wick as an eel
    T' wickest young chap at ivver Ah seen.
    He's a strange wick bairn alus runnin' aboot.
    I'll skin ye wick ! (skin you alive)
    I thowt they was dead last back end but they're wick enif noo.
    "''Are you afraid of going across the churchyard in the dark?" "Lor' bless yer noä miss! It isn't dead uns I'm scar'd on, it's wick uns."
    I'll swop wi' him my poor dead horse for his wick .'' — ''Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England , page 210

    Noun

  • (British, dialect, chiefly, Yorkshire) Liveliness; life.
  • I niver knew such an a thing afore in all my wick . — Ashby, 12 July 1875
  • (British, dialect, chiefly, Yorkshire) The growing part of a plant nearest to the roots.
  • Fed close? Why, it's eaten into t' hard wick . (spoken of a pasture which has been fed very close)
  • (British, dialect, chiefly, Yorkshire) A maggot.
  • Etymology 4

    From (etyl) vik.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A corner of the mouth or eye.
  • * 1969 , Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor , Penguin 2011, p. 57:
  • She considered him. A fiery droplet in the wick of her mouth considered him.

    References

    * "wick" in BBC - North Yorkshire - Voices - Glossary * Notes and Queries , Tenth Series, Vol. IV, 1905, page 170 * A. Smythe Palmer, Folk-Etymology, A Dictionary of verbal corruptions or words perverted in form or meaning, by false derivation or mistaken analogy , 1882, page xxii * John Christopher Atkinson, A glossary of the Cleveland dialect: explanatory, derivative, and critical , 1868, page 573 * W. D. Parish, Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect and Collection of Provincialisms in use in the County of Sussex, 1877, page 274-5

    rick

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) , Icelandic (m).

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A stack, stook or pile of grain, straw, hay etc., especially as protected with thatching.
  • *(George Eliot) (1819-1880)
  • *:There is a remnant still of last year's golden clusters of beehive ricks , rising at intervals beyond the hedgerows;.
  • *
  • *:It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
  • (lb) A stack of wood, especially cut to a regular length; also used as a measure of wood, typically four by eight feet.
  • Derived terms
    * rickburner

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To heap up (hay, etc.) in ricks.
  • Etymology 2

    (etyl) wricke

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • slightly sprain or strain the neck, back, ankle etc.
  • Etymology 3

    Abbreviated form from recruit

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (military, pejorative, and, demeaning) A brand new (naive ) boot camp inductee.
  • No turning back now rick, you are property of the US government, no longer protected by the bill of rights; you follow the UCMJ now.