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stick

noun · verb · adjective

Simple meaning

An elongated piece of wood or similar material, usually put to some use.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stik
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.

  2. figuratively

    A piece (of furniture, especially if wooden).

  3. A relatively long, thin piece of wood, of any size.

  4. A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch.

  5. A long thin implement resembling a length of wood

  6. A cane or walking stick (usually wooden, metal or plastic) to aid in walking.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To become or remain attached; to adhere.

  2. intransitive

    Of snow, to remain frozen on landing.

  3. intransitive

    To remain loyal; to remain firm.

  4. transitive

    To attach with glue or as if by gluing.

  5. transitive

    To place, set down (quickly or carelessly).

  6. transitive

    To press (something with a sharp point) into something else.

adjective

  1. informal

    Likely to stick; sticking, sticky.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.

Used this way, stick is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • truncheon , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use stick

  • “He collected dry sticks for a campfire.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

walking sticklong stick

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • stickernounInflected form

    A small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • stick-in-the-mudnounCompound term

    Someone who moves slowly.

  • stick insectnounCompound term

    Any of various mostly tropical insects having long twiglike bodies.

  • stick lacnounCompound term

    Lac in its natural state as scraped off twigs and dried.

  • stick onverbCompound term

    Apply a heavy coat to.

  • stick outverbCompound term

    Extend out or project in space.

  • stick shiftnounCompound term

    A transmission that is operated manually with a gear lever and a clutch pedal.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: elongated piece of wood or similar material

wedgestayjoystick

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.