thick
pronunciation
How to pronounce thick in British English:
UK [θɪk]
How to pronounce thick in American English:
US [θɪk]
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- Noun:
- the location of something surrounded by other things
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- Adjective:
- not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions
- closely crowded together
- relatively dense in consistency
- spoken as if with a thick tongue
- wide from side to side
- hard to pass through because of dense growth
- (of darkness) very intense
- abundant
- heavy and compact in form or stature
- (used informally) associated on close terms
- used informally
- abundantly covered or filled
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- Adverb:
- with a thick consistency
- in quick succession
Word Origin
- thick
- thick: [OE] Thick comes from a prehistoric Germanic *thekwia-, which also produced German dick, Dutch dik, Swedish tjock, and Danish tyk. It is related to Welsh tew and Breton teo ‘thick’, but its ultimate antecedents are not known. Thicket [OE] is a derivative.
- thick (adj.)
- Old English þicce "dense, viscous, solid, stiff; numerous, abundant; deep," also as an adverb, "thickly, closely, often, frequently," from Proto-Germanic *thiku- (cognates: Old Saxon thikki, Old High German dicchi, German dick, Old Norse þykkr, Old Frisian thikke), from PIE *tegu- "thick" (cognates: Gaelic tiugh). Secondary Old English sense of "close together" is preserved in thickset and proverbial phrase thick as thieves (1833). Meaning "stupid" is first recorded 1590s. Related: Thickly. As a noun, "the thick part" (of anything), from mid-13c. Phrase through thick and thin, indicating rough or smooth going, hence "unwaveringly," is in Chaucer (late 14c.); thick-skinned is attested from 1540s; in figurative sense from c. 1600. To be in the thick of some action, etc., "to be at the most intense moment" is from 1680s, from a Middle English noun sense.
Example
- 1. He gives me a stack about an inch thick .
- 2. It 's 11 inches wide and only 3 millimeters thick .
- 3. Be thick skinned and do not anticipate a long standing relationship .
- 4. Very thick oil may be visible outside of the sunglint region .
- 5. Her thick wavy hair flowed over her shoulders .