flick
/flɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.63 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A motion picture, movie, film; (in plural, usually preceded by "the") movie theater, cinema.
Informal
noun
A cut that lands with the point, often involving a whip of the foible of the blade to strike at a concealed target.
noun
A flitch.
noun
A unit of time, equal to 1/705,600,000 of a second.
Example Sentences
- "He removed the speck of dust with a flick of his finger."
- "She gave a disdainful flick of her hair and marched out of the room."
- "On this occasion it was Nolan's deft flick that fooled West Ham's sleepy defenders Danny Gabbidon and Tomkins. The ball found its way to Best, who smashed in with confidence from the edge of the area."
- "My all-time favorite flick is "Gone with the Wind.""
- "Want to go to the flicks tonight?"
- "The fourth seed was dominating her 20-year-old opponent with a series of stinging groundstrokes and athletic drive-volleys, striking again in game five when Paszek flicked a forehand pick-up into the tramlines."
Etymology
From Middle English flykke (“light blow or stroke”). Later uses apparently interpreted as a back-formation from flicker. The use of flick to mean a film or movie derives from the fact that early films had a low frame rate, thus causing the film to "flick" rapidly when projected onto a screen.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: flykke