Ticking

/ˈtɪkɪŋ/ · noun

Meaning

A strong cotton or linen fabric used to cover pillows and mattresses..

Definitions by Sense

1. A strong cotton or linen fabric used to cover pillows and mattresses.
2. A sound of something that ticks. (For example, the second hand on a clock face.)
3. An illusional style of dance where one moves his or her body to the "tic" of the music creating a strobe or animated effect.
4. present participle and gerund of tick
5. A marking that occurs on some horses, involving white flecks of hair at the flank, and white hairs at the base of the tail, called a skunk tail or rabicano, sometimes referred to as birdcatcher ticks.

Example Sentences

Harvey saw with disgust that there were no sheets on his bed-place. He was lying on a piece of dingy ticking full of lumps and nubbles.

Were they indeed the tickings of a hundred clocks — the fine low inward breathings of Time's children!

The combination of “monotony” and “variety,” which keeps the writer in a trance-like state between sleep and wake, is then characterized by the figure of a ticking watch: “If certain sensitive persons listen persistently to the ticking of a watch [...] they fall into the hypnotic trance; and rhythm is but the ticking of a watch made softer, that one must needs listen, and various, that one may not be swept beyond memory or grow weary of listening” (1961: 159).

a ticking time bomb

Synonyms for ticking

Antonyms for ticking

Related Words

Word Forms

• tickings

Usage Notes

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