sickadj.n.

Brit.

/sɪk/, U.S.

/sɪk/

Forms: α. Old English–Middle English seoc (Old English seoch, sioc), Middle English seo(c)k; Middle English sæc, seac, seak (1800s dialect), Middle English, 1500s seake; Old English–Middle English sec (Middle English cec), Middle English sek (Middle English cek), Middle English–1500s seke (Middle English ceke), Middle English seeke; Middle English siec, Middle English siek(e, Middle English–1500s (1800s dialect) seek, Middle English seyk, Middle English–1500s Scottish seik. β. Middle English suc, sic, Middle English–1500s sik (Middle English zik), 1500s–1600s sicke (1500s sycke), 1500s– sick (1800s dialect zick), 1500s sickk. γ. Middle English sijk (Middle English siik, syyk, Middle English siyk), Middle English sijke (Middle English siike, Middle English syike); Middle English syk, Middle English–1500s syke (Middle English zyke); Middle English, 1600s sike.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Common Germanic: Old English séoc, = Old Frisian siak, sieck, sek (West Frisian siik, †sjeack), Middle Dutch siec, ziec (Dutch ziek), Old Saxon siok, seok, siak (Middle Low German sêk, seik, sik, Low German seek, siek, sük), Old High German siuh, sioh, seoh, siach, siech (Middle High German and German siech), Old Norse and Icelandic sjúkr (Norwegian and Swedish sjuk, Danish syg), Gothic siuks. Relationship to other Germanic roots is uncertain, and no outside cognates have been traced. The variation of vowel in some Middle English forms is not easy to account for.

A. adj.

I. Suffering from a physical ailment.

a. Suffering from illness of any kind; ill, unwell, ailing. Also, to go sick, to become ill, to report sick.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased

untrumc825

sickc888

unwholec888

slackc897

unstronga900

sicklea1000

sam-halea1023

worseOE

attaint1303

languishinga1325

heallessc1374

sicklyc1374

sicklewa1387

bada1393

mishalea1400

languoring?c1425

distempered1440

unwell?c1450

detent?a1475

poora1475

languorousc1475

maladif1481

illa1500

maladiousc1500

wanthriven1508

attainted1509

unsound1513

acrazed1521

cracked1527

unsoundya1529

visited1537

infirmed1552

crazed1555

healthless1568

ill-liking1572

afflicted1574

crazy1576

unhealthful1580

sickish1581

valetudinary1581

not well1587

fainty1590

ill-disposed1596

unhealthsome1598

tainted1600

ill-affected1604

peaking1611

unhealthy1611

infirmited1616

disaffected1626

physical1633

illish1637

pimping1640

invalid1642

misaffected1645

valetudinarious1648

unhale1653

badly1654

unwholesome1655

valetudinous1655

morbulent1656

off the hooksa1658

mawkish1668

morbid1668

unthriven1680

unsane1690

ailing1716

not wellish1737

underlya1742

poorly1750

indifferent1753

comical1755

maladized1790

sober1808

sickened1815

broken-down1816

peaky1821

poorlyish1827

souffrante1827

run-down1831

sicklied1835

addle1844

shaky1844

mean1845

dauncy1846

stricken1846

peakyish1853

po'ly1860

pindling1861

rough1882

rocky1883

suffering1885

wabbit1895

icky-boo1920

like death warmed up1924

icky1938

ropy1945

crappy1956

hanging1971

sick as a parrot1982

shite1987

the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > fall ill

sicklec1000

sicka1150

sickenc1175

evil1303

mislike?1440

fall1526

to take a conceit1543

to fall down?1571

to lay upa1616

to run of (or on) a garget1615

craze1658

invalid1829

wreck1876

collapse1879

to go sick1879

to sicken for1883

α.

c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxvi. §5 Swa swa læca gewuna is..ðonne hi siocne mon gesioð.

971 Blickl. Hom. 59 Eal swylce seo lange mettrumnes biþ þæs seocan mannes.

c1020 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1015 Þa læg se cyng seoc æt Cosham.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3380 Swa þe king seoc [c1300 Otho seac] læi.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1175 Abimalech wurð sek on-on.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 65 He makth him siek, whan he is heil.

a1400 K. Alis. (Laud) 6978 Now man is hool, now man is seek.

c1440 Generydes 199 Youre fader is right seke this day.

1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 5 It proffiteth as a good medicine couenably yeuen to them that be seke.

c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xx. 130 Quhat medycyn can help ane seik man that hurtis hym selue vilfully..?

1580 J. Haye in Catholic Tractates (S.T.S.) 46 Is any seake amang you, lat him call for the preistes of the kirk.

1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 150 ‘I was nowther seak nor sair when I said it’,..that is, in no way incapacitated so as to render my evidence.

β. c1200 Moral Ode (Trin. Coll. MS.) 201 Nare noman elles dead ne sic ne non unsele.c1275 Laȝamon Brut 2794 Þo iwarþ þe king sick.c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3861 Elydour feyned hym sik to lye.c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 46 Þouȝ I be simpul & sik neþeles I wile euere haue a clerk þat schal do me dyuyne office.a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail li. l. 187 These herbes don me but distresse,..for I am Sykkere thanne I was before.1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Eiii^v So that none of them was sicke or miscaryed by the way.1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 493 In this meane while, king Henry waxed sicker and sicker.1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 191 The one of these being very sicke, and, as was thought, in danger of death.1674 R. Godfrey Var. Injuries in Physick 83 Instead of growing sicker, they are far more chearfull.1709 Tatler No. 86. ⁋3 At whose right hand he had sat at every Quarter-Sessions this Thirty Years, unless he was Sick.1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. iii. 183 At Issus he barbarously put to death all the Greeks who were sick in that city.1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxiv. 299 If she could be spared to come down and console a poor sick lonely old woman.1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper iii. 37 In order that another young one from some other pair..may be given the parents to feed off their soft meat, and save them from ‘going sick’ with it.1891 E. A. Freeman Let. 25 Oct. in W. R. W. Stephens Life & Lett. E. A. Freeman (1895) II. 443 She too has been sick and sent up to Ilkley in Yorkshire.1902 W. B. Yeats Where there is Nothing (1903) iv. i. 77 No fear, they won't refuse a sick man.1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 53 He's lots better this morning,..and he is not ‘going sick’ at all.1927 E. Thompson These Men thy Friends 12 Filthy climate. No fun. But she just carries on. Hasn't gone sick once in six months.1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 95 To go sick under false pretences.1936 G. B. Shaw Millionairess ii, in Simpleton, Six, & Millionairess 164 You are my doctor: do you hear? I am a sick woman: you cannot abandon me to die.1945 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 452/1 ‘And you're telling me that you've never had a few days off?.. Not even for sick-leave?’ ‘I was never sick, sir.’1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke iv. 77 He went sick... It was so hopeless, so damned silly and forlorn as a lead-swing that in the end he got away with it.1956 D. Jacobson Dance in Sun ii. ix. 91 ‘Hey,’ he said rudely to Fletcher, ‘are you sick?’1959 V. Watkins Cypress & Acacia 23 I found him feeble and sick. And cold.1962 G. Lawton John Wesley's English iii. 57 When Wesley is sick he is ‘laid-up.’1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 24/4 Willis went sick during the opening match in Poona.figurative.1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. i. 96 Thy death-bed is no lesser than thy land, Wherein thou liest in reputation sicke . 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 59 Sicke in the worlds regard. γ. c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 28 Þis bok he leide ope þis man, ase he so sijk þer lay.c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 132 Þe Monenday sore syk þe bischop thomas lay.c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 3126 Þai wende þe quen wald dye, So sike sche was bi siȝt.?a1366 Romaunt Rose 1358 That is a fruyt ful wel to lyke, Namely to folk whan they ben syke.c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 194 The feend which was in a famose ymage in a temple made the peple sijk.1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xii. 294 I have lever deye than be longe syke.1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer 27 Serm. ii. f. 103 Oure sauiour was goyng to the house, where thys younge mayde laye sycke.

b. Const. of, with (†in, on).Also in figurative contexts, cf. A. 3, A. 4.

ΚΠ

c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 23 Men þat ben siike in þe palesy.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 148 Be war..thou be noght sik Of thilke fievere [jealousy] as I have spoke.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) cxi. 385 Many sondry frutys so fayre..that a syke man of any infyrmyte shuld sone recouer helth.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI 13 b Ihon Lilie fel sicke on the gowte.

1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 136 To a sicke man of the ague, all drinkes seeme bitter.

a1618 J. Sylvester Auto-machia 68 Sick to my Self I run for my reliefe: So, Sicker of my Physicke than my Griefe.

1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. xxxvii. 11) 288 Self-love, ignorance, &c...make the soul sick of the fret.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 67 You are sick of the Mulligrubs, with eating chopt Hay.

a1774 O. Goldsmith tr. P. Scarron Comic Romance (1775) I. xxix. 320 This inn-keeper..being sick of a violent fever.

a1882 J. P. Quincy Figures of Past (1884) 199 New York had succumbed to the influenza. Everybody had been..sick with it.

c. Of parts of the body: Not in a sound or healthy state.In later use usually with suggestion of sense A. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > of parts

sick1340

infirma1616

vicious1615

wronged1634

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 148 Yef þe on leme is zik oþer y-wonded.

c1400 Brut. cci. 229 Seynt Thomas come vnto him, and enoynted oueral his sike side.

?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 17 Wher the heed is seke or euyll þe membres may not be hoole ner good.

1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 33^v Laye thys upon the sycke place.

1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xvii. 48 The kidneys might be sick, or..could not be nourished with good blood.

1700 W. King Transactioneer ii. 48 At last his Third Finger was sick.

1786 A. M. Bennett Juvenile Indiscretions I. 169 And had a sick stomach.

1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. II. 115 A Sick Stomach will not digest the food that may be forced down it.

1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 39 All that it inherits Are motes of a sick eye.

d. sick man n. a term frequently applied, during the latter part of the 19th cent., to the Sultan of Turkey. Also figurative, originally applied to Turkey and hence to other countries, regions, etc., and in extended uses.Quot. 1853 refers to a conversation between the Tsar Nicholas I and Sir G. Seymour at St. Petersburg on the 21 February 1853.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > liability to harm, loss, etc. > vulnerable part, thing, or person

gap1548

weak link1581

subjecta1593

sitting1618

blota1657

soft spot1770

Achilles heel1839

sick man1853

soft underbelly1942

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] > Saracen or Arab ruler > specific

sick man1853

1853 Ann. Register, Hist. 252 I am not so eager about what shall be done when the sick man dies, as I am to determine with England what shall not be done upon that event taking place.

1855 J. Martineau Ess., Rev., & Addr. I. (1890) 428 It was all right not to let the ‘sick man’ be frightened into convulsions.

1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. ii. 30 That formidable potentate, not then the ‘sick man’ whose precarious condition and territorial inheritance cause so much anxiety in modern days.

1860 S. S. Cox Eight Years in Congr. (1865) 129 ‘Mexico is our “sick man”.’ ‘Yes; she is to America what Turkey is to Europe.’

1868 C. Schurz Speeches, Corr. & Pol. Papers (1913) I. 456 The South is our ‘sick man’... The ‘sick man’ has been operated upon by Democratic doctors once more.

1888 S. Lane-Poole Turkey xvii. 343 The Powers have always acted on the principle that somebody must serve as a dyke between Russia and the Bosphorus, and that Turkey, being there, had better be maintained in her position. The ‘Sick Man’ of the morbid mind of Nicholas must be galvanized into sufficient vitality to sit up and pretend to be well.

1897 Japan Times 30 Mar. 3/4 Mr Valentine Chirol, who shortly after the war published in the London Times a series of remarkable articles exposing the rottenness of China..has recently been in the East again..and has commenced a second series of equally striking articles on the ‘Sick Man of Asia’.

1901 Daily Express 18 Mar. 4/4 French dealings with the Sultan of Morocco, the Sick Man of Africa.

1918 Times 3 Jan. 5/1 The Sick Man of Europe has changed his doctors, and the new doctors..have prescribed participation in the European war.

1918 Times 3 Jan. 5/2 The Sick Man finds himself less sick than his neighbour, and Russia defenceless offers her flanks to Turkey's sharpest blades.

1929 H. M. Kallen Frontiers of Hope 451 Under the terms of the Peace the Jew has simply been made to replace the Turk as the Sick Man of Europe.

1959 Listener 30 July 168/2 It was Italy which turned the Austrian empire into a second ‘sick man’.

1961 N. Smart in I. Ramsey Prospect for Metaphysics v. 80 Natural theology is the Sick Man of Europe.

1963 Times 31 Jan. 11/1 There is no imminent threat to it, but once that is passed India would be on the way to becoming in economic terms the sick man of Asia.

1967 Listener 26 Jan. 116/2 In December 1958 France was the sick man of Europe; it had no exchange reserves and was incapable of facing the Common Market.

1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 205 The movie's not always the sick man of the arts.

1974 Times 4 May 8/4 I have been wondering who now qualifies for the title of Sick Man of Sound Broadcasting.

1979 G. St. Aubyn Edward VII vii. 319 China was the sick man of the Orient over whose corpse the vultures hovered.

e. northern dialect. In childbed, confined, lying-in.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective]

childbed1494

in the strawa1661

lying-in1711

sick1828

1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) s.v.

1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) s.v.

†f. Said of pigeons which have lost their young and so have no recipient for the soft food that they regurgitate. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [adjective] > of or belonging to pigeon and dove > without young to feed (of pigeon)

sick1765

1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 21 If your Pigeons do not hatch, because their eggs are addle, or otherwise, you should give them a pair, or at least one young one, to feed off their soft meat, which would be apt to make them sick.

1854 L. A. Meall Moubray's Treat. Poultry viii. 455 We have never observed the old birds ‘sick’ (as most books assert they are) when the young have died.

1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper iii. 37 In order that another young one from some other pair..may be given the parents to feed off their soft meat, and save them from ‘going sick’ with it.

g. slang (originally U.S.). Of a drug addict, craving for a dose of a drug, suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drug addiction or craving > [adjective] > suffering withdrawal symptoms (of addict)

sick1951

1951 N.Y. Times 15 June 14/6 I..would walk up and..ask the bartender: ‘Say, have you seen so-and-so yet?’ I says: ‘Man, I'm sick.’

1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkie vii. 69 The usual routine is to grab someone with junk on him, and let him stew in jail until he is good and sick.

1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene in Great Brit. vii. 91 Even now, more than two years after leaving hospital, I still feel sometimes sick in the morning when I am tense or upset, and I feel sick whenever I see syringes or ‘addicts’ in TV plays.

a. Having an inclination to vomit, or being actually in the condition of vomiting.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > affected by nausea > of person

squeamishc1450

qualmish1548

wamble-cropped1552

wamble-stomached1552

qualming1576

queasy1579

queasy-stomached1579

kecklish1601

keckish1603

nauseous1613

nauseative1620

sick1631

sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653

vomiturient1666

sick as a horse1705

qualmyish1831

squeamy1838

qualmy1846

queachy1859

squalmish1867

wambly1872

ill1928

naar1969

sick as a parrot1979

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > relating to vomiting > vomiting

vominga1382

spewinga1425

sick1631

sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653

puking1675

sick as a horse1705

parbreaking1746

vomiting1879

1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre v. vi. 87 in Wks. II O lend me a bason, I am sicke, I am sicke.

1656 tr. T. White Peripateticall Inst. 130 Those who are sick with riding in a Coach.

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 34 He was very sick and brought it up again.

1778 F. Burney Let. 5 July in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1994) III. Precipices, that, to look at, make my head giddy and my heart sick.

1815 J. W. Croker in L. J. Jennings Croker Papers (1884) I. iii. 75 The men were all sick, and the women and children thought they were going to the bottom.

1900 T. C. Allbutt Syst. Med. V. 628 The patient, if he is in the house, usually crouches over the fire and feels sick and giddy.

figurative.1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 112 When the noon of summer made The valleys sick with heat.1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xiii. i, in Maud & Other Poems 44 But his essences turn'd the live air sick.

b. More fully sick at (or to, in) the stomach.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > affected by nausea > of person

squeamishc1450

qualmish1548

wamble-cropped1552

wamble-stomached1552

qualming1576

queasy1579

queasy-stomached1579

kecklish1601

keckish1603

nauseous1613

nauseative1620

sick1631

sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653

vomiturient1666

sick as a horse1705

qualmyish1831

squeamy1838

qualmy1846

queachy1859

squalmish1867

wambly1872

ill1928

naar1969

sick as a parrot1979

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > relating to vomiting > vomiting

vominga1382

spewinga1425

sick1631

sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653

puking1675

sick as a horse1705

parbreaking1746

vomiting1879

1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme ii. vii The Dog, when he is sick at the Stomach, knows his Cure, falls to his Grass, vomits, and is well.

1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 489 Antronius comes..to say, that he is sick at the stomach.

1753 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 48 Sick in my Stomach all the Morning—Owing to their hard Food.

1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Sick as a horse. Horses are said to be extremely sick at their stomachs, from being unable to relieve themselves by vomiting.

1831 T. Hope Ess. Origin Man II. 320 The elephant [will] eat sugar-plums till he turns sick at the stomach.

1863 A. Trollope in Cornhill Mag. Aug. 228 How well can I remember the terror created within me by..a certain fine old gentleman... I would become sick in my stomach.

1923 R. D. Paine Comrades Rolling Ocean xii. 203 ‘It makes me feel sick at my stomach’, declared Briscoe. ‘Here's where you feel sicker. Great Scott, look at that.’

1947 A. Huxley Let. 9 Apr. (1969) 570 I heard a bit of the Parsifal Good Friday music at Easter~time.., and it made me feel even more ‘sick to my stomach’, as the Americans say, than in the past.

1948 ‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair xiii. 139 You make me sick—Cat-sick. Sick to my stomach.

1955 Jrnl. Canad. Linguistic Assoc. Mar. 17 Another expression which has some striking variants depending on the choice of preposition is sick at the stomach. In the Northern speech area of the United States the usual equivalent is sick to the stomach; in the Midland and Southern areas, at is the usual preposition... In New England..and most of the Yankee settlement areas, to enjoys a virtual monopoly. In northwest New York State, however, sick at the stomach is unusually common.

1975 Times 30 June 17/5 If all the factories are nationalized I shall walk out of here sick to the stomach.

c. In phrases sick as a dog, sick as a horse, etc. (Sense sometimes merging with A. 4). Also sick as a parrot (a fanciful catchphrase, chiefly used jocularly).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective]

angeredc1275

miseasedc1390

woea1398

forpainedc1400

labouringc1425

passive?a1439

painedc1450

loaden1542

sored1557

stressed1559

pinched1566

grieved1586

suffering1609

heavy-laden1611

undergoinga1616

vulned1628

loaded1661

afflicted1690

sick as a parrot1705

crosseda1732

wrung1862

traumatized1935

fraught1966

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective]

sorelyc888

gramec893

sorrowfuleOE

unblithec897

sorryeOE

carefulOE

charyOE

sickOE

yomerOE

sorry-moodOE

sweerc1000

yomerlyOE

sorrilyOE

woea1200

balec1220

sorry?c1225

sorec1275

gremefula1300

sada1300

ruthlyc1300

thoughtfulc1300

woebegonea1325

heavyc1330

grievousc1374

woefula1375

sorrowya1382

dereful?a1400

sorousa1400

sytefula1400

teenfula1400

wrotha1400

balefulc1400

tristy?c1400

tristc1420

dolefulc1430

wapped in woec1440

yhevidc1440

dolenta1450

condolentc1460

discomforted1477

tristfula1492

sorrow1496

dram?a1513

dolorous1513

earnful?1527

troublous1535

amort1546

mournfula1558

passioned1560

sadded1566

tristive1578

distressed1586

passionate1586

sorrowed1596

distressful1601

passionful1605

sighful1606

contristed1625

anguishinga1642

sadful1658

saddened1665

tristitious1694

sick as a parrot1705

pangful1727

woesome1778

grieving1807

ruesome1833

yearned1838

doleant1861

mournsome1869

thoughted1869

tragical1887

grief-stricken1905

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > feeling ill

squeamish1670

howish1694

sick as a horse1705

nohowish1816

all-overish1820

washed out1850

all-over1861

wisht1868

crappy1956

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > affected by nausea > of person

squeamishc1450

qualmish1548

wamble-cropped1552

wamble-stomached1552

qualming1576

queasy1579

queasy-stomached1579

kecklish1601

keckish1603

nauseous1613

nauseative1620

sick1631

sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653

vomiturient1666

sick as a horse1705

qualmyish1831

squeamy1838

qualmy1846

queachy1859

squalmish1867

wambly1872

ill1928

naar1969

sick as a parrot1979

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > relating to vomiting > vomiting

vominga1382

spewinga1425

sick1631

sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653

puking1675

sick as a horse1705

parbreaking1746

vomiting1879

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > disappointment > [adjective] > disappointed

disappointed1578

sick as a parrot1979

gutted1984

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased

untrumc825

sickc888

unwholec888

slackc897

unstronga900

sicklea1000

sam-halea1023

worseOE

attaint1303

languishinga1325

heallessc1374

sicklyc1374

sicklewa1387

bada1393

mishalea1400

languoring?c1425

distempered1440

unwell?c1450

detent?a1475

poora1475

languorousc1475

maladif1481

illa1500

maladiousc1500

wanthriven1508

attainted1509

unsound1513

acrazed1521

cracked1527

unsoundya1529

visited1537

infirmed1552

crazed1555

healthless1568

ill-liking1572

afflicted1574

crazy1576

unhealthful1580

sickish1581

valetudinary1581

not well1587

fainty1590

ill-disposed1596

unhealthsome1598

tainted1600

ill-affected1604

peaking1611

unhealthy1611

infirmited1616

disaffected1626

physical1633

illish1637

pimping1640

invalid1642

misaffected1645

valetudinarious1648

unhale1653

badly1654

unwholesome1655

valetudinous1655

morbulent1656

off the hooksa1658

mawkish1668

morbid1668

unthriven1680

unsane1690

ailing1716

not wellish1737

underlya1742

poorly1750

indifferent1753

comical1755

maladized1790

sober1808

sickened1815

broken-down1816

peaky1821

poorlyish1827

souffrante1827

run-down1831

sicklied1835

addle1844

shaky1844

mean1845

dauncy1846

stricken1846

peakyish1853

po'ly1860

pindling1861

rough1882

rocky1883

suffering1885

wabbit1895

icky-boo1920

like death warmed up1924

icky1938

ropy1945

crappy1956

hanging1971

sick as a parrot1982

shite1987

1705 J. Vanbrugh Confederacy ii. i If..he shou'd chance to be fond, he'd make me as sick as a Dog.

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 67 Poor Miss, she's sick as a Cushion, she wants nothing but stuffing.

1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VII. ii. 8 I am sick as a horse, quoth I, already.

a1843 R. Southey Doctor (1847) VII. 79 T' Trees gang fleeing by..an' gars yan be as seek as a peeate.

1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 233 Sick as a horse, a common vulgar simile, used when a person is exceedingly sick without vomiting.

1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. xi. 207 It turned me as sick as a dog.

a1906 ‘T. Collins’ Rigby's Romance (1946) xli. 221 Well, by-and-by I woke up, sick as a dog, with my face all scorched, and I lay down again.

1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps vii. 161 I had a crushing headache, and felt as sick as a cat.

1947 A. Ransome Great Northern? xix. 238 ‘Sick as cats with himself,’ said Nancy.

1979 Private Eye 16 Feb. 12/1 The Moggatollah admitted frankly that he was ‘sick as a parrot’ at the way events had been unfolding.

1982 Daily Star 5 Feb. 5/6 Peter the budgie was sick as a parrot until a vet diagnosed his problem yesterday. Peter..has got gout!

d. In phrases to worry (oneself), be worried, sick.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > [adjective]

troubleda1325

troublyc1340

troublec1374

worried1559

betoiled1622

aerumnous1658

fidgety1736

fretful1737

fretted1756

tanglesome1823

awful1865

hincty1929

toey1930

to worry (oneself), be worried, sick1952

noodgy1969

the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > be worried [verb (intransitive)]

to annoy of?c1400

fret1551

moil1567

ferret1807

worrit1854

worry1860

whittle1880

fidget1884

agonize1915

to worry (oneself), be worried, sick1952

to stress out1983

stress1988

the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > [verb (reflexive)]

fretc1290

overfret1445

solicita1450

turmoil?1529

moila1560

to fret one's gizzard1755

to worry (oneself), be worried, sick1952

1952 M. Laski Village v. 89 Edith Wilson had heard about Wendy's illness, and worried herself sick, not knowing what to do for the best.

1961 ‘J. le Carré’ Call for Dead iv. 37 You look worried sick.

1977 R. Ludlum Chancellor Manuscript xxx. 320 She hasn't been able to sleep. She's worried sick.

II. Suffering from spiritual or moral corruption; deeply affected for a feeling of sorrow, etc.

†3. Spiritually or morally ailing; corrupt through sin or wrongdoing. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [adjective]

sickc960

foulOE

unwholec1000

thewlessa1327

corrupt1340

viciousc1340

unwholesomec1374

infecta1387

rustyc1390

unsound?a1400

rottenc1400

rotten-heartedc1405

cankereda1450

infectedc1449

wasted1483

depravate?1520

poisoned1529

deformed1555

poisonous1555

reprobate1557

corrupted1563

prave1564

base-minded1573

tainted1577

Gomorrhean1581

vice-like1589

depraved1593

debauched1598

deboshedc1598

tarish1601

sunk1602

speckled1603

deboist1604

diseased1608

ulcerous1611

vitial1614

debauchc1616

deboise1632

pravous1653

depravea1711

unhealthy1821

scrofulous1842

septic1914

society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > [adjective] > corrupted or corrupt > morally sick or diseased

sickc960

unwholec1000

cankereda1450

gangrened1591

diseased1608

ulcerous1611

gangrenous1628

ulcerated1634

ulcerate1654

c960 Rule St. Benet (Schröer) ii. 11 Gif he..his seocum, þæt is synfullum dædum ealle lacnunge gegearewade.

OE Cynewulf Juliana 65 Hæðne wæron begen synnum seoce, sweor ond aþum.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 134 Þeflesch..Makie sec þe saule.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 25329 Bot if þi saul it be sua seke þat þou þi mode mai nagat meke.

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xx. 303 Go salue þo þat syke ben and þorw synne ywounded.

1404–8 26 Pol. Poems vii. 5 The flesch..Is wormes mete, and sek of synne.

R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 90 To so seyk & vnclene myndis..Aungell foyd sall not sauyr.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 109 Mony was seik of ane vice; to wit, immoderat libertie of lyfe.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 201 I meant to rectifie my Conscience, which I then did feele full sicke .

1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) vi. i And heal my Soul diseas'd and sick.

a. Deeply affected by some strong feeling, as (a) sorrow, (b) longing, (c) envy, (d) repugnance or loathing, producing effects similar or comparable to those of physical ailments.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective]

sorelyc888

gramec893

sorrowfuleOE

unblithec897

sorryeOE

carefulOE

charyOE

sickOE

yomerOE

sorry-moodOE

sweerc1000

yomerlyOE

sorrilyOE

woea1200

balec1220

sorry?c1225

sorec1275

gremefula1300

sada1300

ruthlyc1300

thoughtfulc1300

woebegonea1325

heavyc1330

grievousc1374

woefula1375

sorrowya1382

dereful?a1400

sorousa1400

sytefula1400

teenfula1400

wrotha1400

balefulc1400

tristy?c1400

tristc1420

dolefulc1430

wapped in woec1440

yhevidc1440

dolenta1450

condolentc1460

discomforted1477

tristfula1492

sorrow1496

dram?a1513

dolorous1513

earnful?1527

troublous1535

amort1546

mournfula1558

passioned1560

sadded1566

tristive1578

distressed1586

passionate1586

sorrowed1596

distressful1601

passionful1605

sighful1606

contristed1625

anguishinga1642

sadful1658

saddened1665

tristitious1694

sick as a parrot1705

pangful1727

woesome1778

grieving1807

ruesome1833

yearned1838

doleant1861

mournsome1869

thoughted1869

tragical1887

grief-stricken1905

the mind > emotion > jealousy or envy > [adjective] > envious

sickOE

envious1340

envyinga1382

emulous1609

invious1622

invidious1668

the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > [adjective] > languishing for or with love

sickOE

lovesicka1450

languishing1568

fancy-sick1600

lovelorn1637

the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > [adjective] > pining

sickOE

pining1747

the mind > emotion > hatred > loathing or detestation > [adjective]

irk1303

wlatfula1387

squeamous1398

irksome1435

fastidiousa1535

loathsome1577

out of love (with)1577

squeamish1581

loathingc1595

sick1600

distastive1611

distastefula1616

detestant1650

distasting1654

(a)

OE Cynewulf Fates of Apostles 2 Ic þysne sang siðgeomor fand on seocum sefan, samnode wide hu þa æðelingas ellen cyððon, torhte ond tireadige.

OE Guthlac B 1077 Min þæt leofe bearn, ne beo þu on sefan to seoc.

c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) iii. met. xii. 107 He song..wiþ as myche as loue..myȝte ȝeuen hym and teche hym in his seke herte.

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 77 It will make you sicke at the heart to see it.

1611 Bible (King James) Prov. xiii. 12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sicke .

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. i. 69 Thou Iulia thou hast..Made Wit with musing, weake; hart sick with thought.

1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 6 My soul is sick, with ev'ry day's report Of wrong and outrage.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Witch of Atlas xvii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 34 Liquors..whose healthful might Could medicine the sick soul to happy sleep.

1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlix. 72 When..the heart is sick, And all the wheels of Being slow.

1886 F. W. Robinson Courting Mary Smith vi. i She was ill at ease, and sick at heart.

(b)a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Song of Sol. v. 8 If ȝe han founde my derlyng, that ȝe telle to hym, that Y am sijk [L. langueo] for loue.c1460 R. Roos tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy 53 These seke lovers I leve that to hem longes.1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. iii. 134 Boote, boote master Shallow, I know the yong King is sicke for me. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. ii. 83 I would not be so sicke though for his place. a1637 B. Jonson Sad Shepherd i. vi. 54 in Wks. (1640) III Shee's sick o' the yong Shep'ard that bekist her. 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. ii. 73 When one [nightingale].., Sick with sweet love, droops dying away.1842 Ld. Tennyson Talking Oak xviii, in Poems (new ed.) II. 68 This girl, for whom your heart is sick, Is three times worth them all.1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold i. i. 6 Sick as an autumn swallow for a voyage.(c)1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 159 If evere yit thin herte was Sek of an other mannes hele?1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 132 So euery step, Exampl'd by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, growes to an enuious feauer. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. ii. 83 What we oft doe best, By sicke Interpreters..is Not ours, or not allow'd. (d)1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 212 I am sick, when I do looke on thee. 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. ii. 5 Any barre..will be medcinable to me, I am sicke in displeasure to him. 1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci ii. i. 26 Thy milky, meek face makes me sick with hate!1860 Ld. Tennyson Sea Dreams 155 It makes me sick to quote him.

b. slang. Disgusted, mortified, chagrined.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > hatred > dislike > disgust > [adjective]

awlated1297

fastidiousa1535

distasted1651

disgusted1705

revolted1792

disgustful1841

sick1850

skeeved1991

1850 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xlvii, in New Monthly Mag. Aug. 356 Thinking..how sick he was when the jury..gave five hundred pounds damages against him.

1895 Westm. Gaz. 28 Mar. 7/1 Those who backed the popular fancies in the winter must be feeling, in popular parlance, pretty sick.

in extended use.1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 62 The sickest day for you..was the day that you came here.

c. to make (a person) sick.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > hatred > object of detestation (person or thing) > be loathsome or hateful [verb] > cause someone loathing

to make one's flesh creep1725

to make (a person) sick1819

1819 [see sense A. 4a]. 1860 [see sense A. 4a].

1911 G. B. Shaw Shewing-up Blanco Posnet in Doctor's Dilemma 404 A man like you makes me sick.

1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xii. 228 It makes one sick to see..men sweating their guts out to dig a trench.., when some easily devised machine would scoop the earth out in a couple of minutes.

1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax i. 18 The Duchess lost her temper. ‘You make me sick!’ she shouted.

1978 T. Allbeury Lantern Network iii. 34 He talks like a schoolboy. All that ‘knocking the Germans for six’ stuff, it makes me sick.

a. Thoroughly tired or weary of a thing.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > weary of person or thing

wearyc1275

sick1603

tired1672

full up1871

jack1885

1603 N. Breton Dialogue Pithe & Pleasure sig. D4 Where the sonne is sike of the father, the sister of the brother.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iii. 87 The Common-wealth is sicke of their owne Choice.

1710 Tatler No. 257. ⁋3 I was quickly sick of this tawdry Composition of Ribands, Silks and Jewels.

1797 H. Lee Canterbury Tales I. 7 Heartily sick of his host, himself, and his travels.

1842 E. Miall in Nonconformist 2 281 The world is sick of such societies.

1884 Manch. Examiner 7 May 5/4 There are plenty of Tories everywhere who are sick of the old party traditions.

b. In phrases sick and tired of (cf. sick-tired adj. at Compounds 2b), sick to death of.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > weary of person or thing > extremely

sick and tired ofa1813

sick to death of1890

a1813 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur More Lett. from Amer. Farmer (1995) 267 I am quite sick & Tired of these pretended conscientious non fighting Mortals.

1884 B. Nye Baled Hay 124 We are sick and tired of pointing out different avenues of wealth to be laughed at and ridiculed.

1890 E. Dowson Let. c11 Sept. (1967) 166 I am sick to death of this place.

1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby ix. 205 ‘You young men think you can force your way in any time,’ she scolded. ‘We're getting sick in tired of it.’

1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 117 He was sick to death of the sound of these three crass monosyllables which he seemed always to be reiterating.

1976 Milton Keynes Express 9 July 2/6 I believe people are sick and tired of half-truths and evasions.

III. Generally: mentally weak; impaired, out of condition, sickly; macabre.

6. Mentally affected or weak. Also: morbid, enjoying sick humour (see sense A. 7f). Now rare.Cf. Old English séocmód adj. in Napier Contrib. O.E. Lex.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective]

sickc1340

dottlec1390

doting1489

dotish1509

feeble-minded1534

weak-brained1535

silly1568

fondish1579

lean-witted1597

soft1621

weaka1661

touched1697

muzzy-headed1798

defective1825

wanting1839

half-baked1842

dotty1860

knock-kneed1865

lean-minded1867

doddering1871

weak-minded1883

ninepence in the shilling1889

barmy1892

drippy1952

dipshit1968

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with

woodc725

woodsekc890

giddyc1000

out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000

witlessc1000

brainsickOE

amadc1225

lunaticc1290

madc1330

sickc1340

brain-wooda1375

out of one's minda1387

frenetica1398

fonda1400

formada1400

unwisea1400

brainc1400

unwholec1400

alienate?a1425

brainless1434

distract of one's wits1470

madfula1475

furious1475

distract1481

fro oneself1483

beside oneself1490

beside one's patience1490

dementa1500

red-wood?1507

extraught1509

misminded1509

peevish1523

bedlam-ripe1525

straughta1529

fanatic1533

bedlama1535

daft1540

unsounda1547

stark raving (also staring) mad1548

distraughted1572

insane1575

acrazeda1577

past oneself1576

frenzy1577

poll-mad1577

out of one's senses1580

maddeda1586

frenetical1588

distempered1593

distraught1597

crazed1599

diswitted1599

idle-headed1599

lymphatical1603

extract1608

madling1608

distracteda1616

informala1616

far gone1616

crazy1617

March mada1625

non compos mentis1628

brain-crazed1632

demented1632

crack-brained1634

arreptitiousa1641

dementate1640

dementated1650

brain-crackeda1652

insaniated1652

exsensed1654

bedlam-witteda1657

lymphatic1656

mad-like1679

dementative1685

non compos1699

beside one's gravity1716

hyte1720

lymphated1727

out of one's head1733

maddened1735

swivel-eyed1758

wrong1765

brainsickly1770

fatuous1773

derangedc1790

alienated1793

shake-brained1793

crack-headed1796

flighty1802

wowf1802

doitrified1808

phrenesiac1814

bedlamite1815

mad-braineda1822

fey1823

bedlamitish1824

skire1825

beside one's wits1827

as mad as a hatter1829

crazied1842

off one's head1842

bemadded1850

loco1852

off one's nut1858

off his chump1864

unsane1867

meshuga1868

non-sane1868

loony1872

bee-headed1879

off one's onion1881

off one's base1882

(to go) off one's dot1883

locoed1885

screwy1887

off one's rocker1890

balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891

meshuggener1892

nutty1892

buggy1893

bughouse1894

off one's pannikin1894

ratty1895

off one's trolley1896

batchy1898

twisted1900

batsc1901

batty1903

dippy1903

bugs1904

dingy1904

up the (also a) pole1904

nut1906

nuts1908

nutty as a fruitcake1911

bugged1920

potty1920

cuckoo1923

nutsy1923

puggled1923

blah1924

détraqué1925

doolally1925

off one's rocket1925

puggle1925

mental1927

phooey1927

crackers1928

squirrelly1928

over the edge1929

round the bend1929

lakes1934

ding-a-ling1935

wacky1935

screwball1936

dingbats1937

Asiatic1938

parlatic1941

troppo1941

up the creek1941

screwed-up1943

bonkers1945

psychological1952

out to lunch1955

starkers1956

off (one's) squiff1960

round the twist1960

yampy1963

out of (also off) one's bird1966

out of one's skull1967

whacked out1969

batshit1971

woo-woo1971

nutso1973

out of (one's) gourd1977

wacko1977

off one's meds1986

c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 772 Þan waxes his gaste seke and sare, And his face rouncles.

1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Dj Some men are so sicke in their braine, that thei are neuer wise.

1692 S. Patrick Answer to Touchstone of Reformed Gospel 223 If they are not sick in their wits.

1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna v. xxvii. 106 It was a tone Such as sick fancies in a new made grave Might hear.

1961 Times 17 July 14/5 Mr. Sahl is disapproving of the so-called ‘sick’ comedians of America.

1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. at Sick¹ A sick personality.

1962 Listener 25 Oct. 692/3 From Korea James Mossman reported on the Panmunjom truce-line (a raree-show for tourists these days, I gather: how sick can people get?).

1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence 45 Don't mind them, honey! They're the sickest bunch of people you ever saw.

a. Of things: Out of condition in some respect; corrupted or spoiled; spec. of wine which has become turbid, or of quicksilver (see quot. 1875).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective]

undisposedc1380

sicka1425

shrewdc1430

crazy1583

unsound1617

vitiated1620

depravate1665

depraveda1807

sickly1826

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective]

blackOE

rotea1382

lousyc1386

unwashed?a1390

fulsomec1390

filthy?c1400

rankc1400

leprousa1425

sicka1425

miry1532

shitten?1545

murrain1575

obscene1597

vicious1597

ketty1607

putrid1628

putredinous1641

foede1657

fulsamic1694

carrion1826

foul1842

shitty1879

scabrous1880

scummy1932

pukey1933

shitting1950

gungy1962

grungy1965

shithouse1966

grot1967

bogging1973

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Isa. xxiv. 7 Vyndage morenyde, the vyne is sijk [L. infirmata].

c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 939 Thy tre is seek, oyldregges water mynge [etc.].

a1470 Dives & Pauper (W. de W.) vii. x. 290/1 Yf a man or woman selle a seke thynge for an hole thynge wyttyngly to begyle the byer, he doth theeft.

a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 125 Ȝiff swete wyne be seeke or pallid, put in a Rompney for lesynge.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. ii. 153 The seik ground denyis his fruite and fudis.

1669 W. Charleton Mysterie of Vintners in Two Disc. 159 Renish [wine]..commonly grows sick in June, if not rack'd.

1684 J. Evelyn Diary 4 Feb. The oranges and mirtills very sick, the rosemary and laurells dead to all appearance.

1697 T. Tryon Way to Health (ed. 3) xv. 369 A Medicine of a loathing Quality, and far Sicker in Nature than the distempered Patient.

1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) III. 208 If the Wort is sick, it cannot fail of communicating its unwholesome Quality to the Blood.

1817 in Trans. Ill. State Hist. Soc. 1910 (1912) 147 Sick Milk, Sick Wheat, a plenty of Ague near the large streams.

1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. i, in Lamia & Other Poems 156 Instead of sweets, his ample palate took Savour of poisonous brass and metal sick.

1847 H. Howe Hist. Coll. Ohio 274 Those lands were too sick for wheat, making ‘sick’ wheat, so termed, because when made into bread, it had the effect of an emetic.

1868 H. C. R. Johnson Long Vac. Argentine Alps 103 The people very generally drink the wine new, the year after it is made—just as likely it is sick.

1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 696 The quicksilver constantly became ‘sick’,..and lost apparently all its natural affinity for gold.

1892 Longman's Mag. Nov. 83 Should the hot and dry weather long continue, a curious phenomenon takes place. The mere is said to be ‘sick’; that the eels are so there can be no doubt.

1915 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1914 672 The fertility of this ‘sick’ soil can be restored by merely heating it for an hour or two to a temperature approaching that of boiling water.

1921 Brit. Mus. Return 74 in Parl. Papers XXVII. 651 The treatment and cleaning of sick and dirty coins.

1930 Notes & Queries 16 Aug. 124/2 A cheese..is sick when it has been over soured or over acidulated, and in time ‘weeps’, gradually becoming soft inside.

1947 I. L. Idriess Isles of Despair xvi. 106 Some roots are ‘sick’, eaten through and through by boring insects.

1965 Listener 2 Sept. 358/1 Soils can be said to be ‘potato sick’, ‘rose sick’, ‘flax sick’, etc.

figurative.1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice v. i. 124 This night me thinks is but the day light sicke . 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 103 O when degree is shakt,..The enterprise is sick . 1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 738 A sepulchre..Where all good qualities grow sick and die.1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 111 When the sick system dies, the public will see the full amount..they have to suffer for their credulity.1931 H. Crane Let. 13 June (1965) 371 As for Mexico..you were right, it's a sick country.1959 Washington Post 18 Nov. a 16/2 Some czars in the labor movement will scream over this resort to the courts to straighten out so-called internal affairs of sick unions, but for racket-harassed workers it is an event of the first importance.1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 2 Feb. 4 He has taken other sick businesses and has done a marvelous job with them.1973 Black Panther 14 July 6/2 I was basically looking at myself..people of my complexion struggling for their liberation. I saw how sick conditions were.1976 J. R. Smythies & L. Corbett Psychiatry Students of Med. iii. 29 Concepts like a ‘sick’ society have become commonplace.

b. Said of the young and ungrown feathers of a bird in moulting-time.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > feather > [adjective] > having particular kind of > of particular kind > ungrown or young

sick1589

pinned1665

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. 222 These fowles in their moulting time, when their feathers be sick.

1592 R. Greene Disput. Conny-catcher sig. D2^v I see the fayrest Hawke hath oftentimes the sickkest feathers.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. v. 187 If a Seraphim himself should be a Bishop, he would either finde or make some sick feathers in his wings.

1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 101 A dove..with sick unpruned wing.

c. Of fish, etc.: in the spawning stage.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [adjective] > relating to laying of eggs > spawning

spawning1579

sick1728

spawny1908

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Herring The shotten and sick Herrings by themselves; the Barrel whereof is to be mark'd distinctly.

1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 107/1 The mass of ova..is spoken of by oyster fishers as ‘white spat’, and an oyster containing them is said to be ‘sick’.

d. Nautical. Requiring repairs.More common in combinations as iron-sick adj., nail-sick adj.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [adjective] > not seaworthy or unstable

walt1539

crank-sided1626

crank1696

walty1702

over-floaty1705

lopsided1711

tender1723

innavigable1755

unseaworthy1820

sick1854

cranky1861

1854 E. S. Sheppard Counterparts I. 7 And the Shelley, she lays down at X, sick of paint.

1893 A. H. Alston & T. P. Walker Seamanship (ed. 3) 55 Sick Seams.—Are those in which the stitches are worn, and give way here and there.

e. Stock Market. Slow, dull.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market

sensitive1813

bearish1827

light1827

quiet1833

easy1836

soft1849

weak1856

steady1857

buoyant1868

sick1870

swimming1870

featureless1879

bullish1882

firm1887

gravelly1887

technical1889

pippy1892

manipulated1903

thin1931

volatile1931

trendless1939

nervous1955

toppy1961

over-bullish1970

toppish1983

1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 137 A Sick market; the market is Ill. When brokers very generally hesitate to buy.

1880 Daily News 13 Dec. 3/5 The [wool] market has been somewhat sick.

1904 Daily Chron. 22 Mar. 2/5 Kaffir shares were again rather sick, and closed lower.

f. colloquial. Of humour, a joke, etc.: macabre, providing amusement by reference to something that is thoroughly unpleasant.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective] > enjoying sick humour

sick1959

the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adjective] > enjoying unpleasant humour

sick1959

the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adjective] > humorous or jesting > other qualities of jests or humour

unwormwooded1628

ledger1655

canny1874

heavy-handed1910

off-colour1915

Dad and Dave1935

sick1959

observational1981

1959 Punch 2 Sept. 106/1 The prototype of sick jokes is one that goes ‘But apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?’

1959 Guardian 16 Oct. 10/3 Feiffer..belongs..to the new American fashion of sick humour... Like those gifted sick comedians Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce..he is able to go straight to the springs of derision and aggression where so much humour begins.

1959 Washington Post 26 Nov. d 22/1 ‘Sick comedy,’ defines Berman carefully, ‘is comic material which violates what we regard as the limits of sensitivity—poking fun at a cripple..or kidding a typhoon that killed thousands.’

1960 Guardian 7 Oct. 15/3 Jules Feiffer, regarded as one of the ‘sick’ school of cartoonists, is not as sick as all that... No one is sicker than Charles Addams.

1961 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 84/2 To enjoy..the sick joke..you have to..swallow jokes about cancer, corruption, homosexuality, third degree, race prejudice and insanity.

1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1035/4 This has been a time of sick laughter.

1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xvii. 164 How long exactly does it take to become a bomb-disposal expert? And don't tell me that you learn by your mistakes because I'm not in the mood for sick jokes.

1975 P. Fussell Great War & Mod. Mem. vi. 228 There is extant a postwar version of such a record [of battle],..aimed at what today might be called the Sick Nostalgia Market.

1978 D. Devine Sunk without Trace xxv. 226 ‘How does it feel..to be back in the bosom of your family?’ Judy said sharply: ‘I'm not in the mood for sick jokes.’

8. Of a sickly hue; pale, wan.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [adjective] > pale

blackeOE

blokec1200

blakec1275

fadec1290

bleykea1300

palisha1398

wanned1494

ashy?1541

wearish-coloured1548

wanny1555

wheyish1560

bleak1566

paly1568

ghastly1574

blankish1580

sick1599

palled1601

ashied1613

lurid1656

lunar1742

wax-like1748

ashen1808

unbrightened1827

waxy1835

peely-wally1895

waxen-hued1916

1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 50 Be not her maide since she is enuious, Her vestall liuery is but sicke and greene.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Triumph of Life in Posthumous Poems (1824) 91 A light of heaven, whose half-extinguished beam Through the sick day..Glimmers.

1845 J. C. Mangan Anthologia Germanica I. 139 Out, out, sick light! Out, flickering taper!

9. Accompanied by illness or sickness; denoting sickness. Cf. sick headache n. at Compounds 3. Also in figurative contexts.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective]

morbous?a1425

unsoundc1540

naughty1572

sick1597

sicklya1616

morbifica1691

morbose1692

ill-conditioned1700

morbid1748

pathic1846

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. ii. 84 Now comes the sicke houre that his surfet made.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rom. ii. 19) So spending thy time in a still dream, but thou shalt have sick waking.

1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso 273 I did first exactly consider the body of the State of Rome in its sick condition.

1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. xviii. 159 They dread A sick Debauch and aching Head.

1827 T. Carlyle E. T. W. Hoffmann in German Romance II. 176 Seventeen sick and pitiable years, before death put a period to her sufferings.

1889 C. Smith Repentance Paul Wentworth III. 297 A sick despair was at his heart.

B. n.

1. absol. as plural. Those who, such as, are suffering from illness.

ΚΠ

α.

c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 18 Ofer seoce hi hyra handa settað & hi beoð hale.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 37 To seke gan and þa deden helpen to buriene.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 245 Sum help..tolechne wið þe secke.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 265 Ther is phisique for the seke.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14078 Giueand mani seke þair hele.

a1450 J. Myrc Instr. to Par. Priests 1841 When þow schalt to seke gon, Hye þe faste.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 95 b/2 He comanded that the feble and seke shold be sette aparte by them self.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 90 To restore to thair health seik and waik.

β. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFFvii Visityng the sicke, comfortyng the prisoner.1592 J. Lyly Gallathea i. i. sig. B2^v It's hard for the sicke to followe wholesome counsaile.1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 218 The sicke of the dropsie augment their thirst in drinking.1681 P. Bellon tr. F. de Monginot New Myst. Physick 49 Supposing that the Sick are duly prepared.1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. i. 293 Fresh provisions were distributed amongst the sick.1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 224 The sick were so numerous that it became necessary to call in..a nurse.1888 H. Morten Sketches Hosp. Life 49 Her friends were the sick and suffering.γ. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 26 Þencheð vpoðe..seke & þe sarie inoure heorte.c1250 Kent. Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 28 Uisiti þe poure and to sike.a1300 Assump. Virg. (Cambr.) 63 Poure and sike he dude god, And seruede hem.1340 Ayenb. 267 Ich y-zeȝ..þe tribz..of poure, and of zyke.1404–8 26 Pol. Poems vi. 39 Fede non hungry, ne cloþe no bare;..Visite no syke.c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 254 To haue compassioun on alle syke & sory.

2. A person suffering from illness. ? Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > sick person > [noun]

sickc888

lazar1340

sickmanc1340

laborant?a1425

suffererc1450

malade1483

patient1484

lazar-man1552

languisher1599

ruina1616

plaintiff1633

valetudinarist1651

valetudinaire?c1682

valetudinarian1703

invalid1709

infirm1711

invaletudinarian1762

valetudinary1785

complainant1861

aegrotant1865

degenerate1895

c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxviii. §7 Swa swa se sioca ah þearfe þæt hine mon læde to þæm læce.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8841 Ne ræche ich nane garsume... ah ælche seocken ich hit do for luue of mine Drihtene.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8060 To se þat seke a turn he made, In sekenes sar he fand him stad.

1412 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. 3627 A medicine Availeth nat, whan þe seke is ded.

c1480 (a1400) St. Bartholomew 90 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 182 With þat wourd..þe seke wes heylit of his care.

a1500 (?c1450) Merlin iii. 52 Plese it yow to axe of youre devynour, yef this seke shall euer be hoill of this sekenesse.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. ix. f. xj Then sayd he vnto the sicke of the palsey.

1789 M. Underwood Treat. Dis. Children (rev. ed.) I. 280 In which interval the sick passes a high-coloured urine.

a. A disease or illness (obsolete); a fit of sickness; a sickening. rare except in to give (a person) the sick, to nauseate, to disgust.It is doubtful whether even the older examples have any direct connection with such forms as Gothic siukei, Old High German siuhhî (German seuche, sieche), Icelandic sýki, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun]

soreOE

cothec1000

sicknessc1000

evilc1275

maladyc1275

grievance1377

passiona1382

infirmityc1384

mischiefa1387

affectiona1398

grievinga1398

grief1398

sicka1400

case?a1425

plaguec1425

diseasea1475

alteration1533

craze1534

uncome1538

impediment1542

affliction?1555

ailment1606

disaster1614

garget1615

morbus1630

ail1648

disaffect1683

disorder1690

illness1692

trouble1726

complaint1727

skookum1838

claim1898

itis1909

bug1918

wog1925

crud1932

bot1937

lurgy1947

Korean haemorrhagic fever1951

nadger1956

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > bout or attack of

onfalleOE

cothec1000

bitc1175

accessc1300

attacha1400

shota1400

swalma1400

storm1540

excess?1541

accession1565

qualm1565

oncome1570

grasha1610

attachment1625

ingruence1635

turn1653

attack1665

fit1667

surprise1670

drow1727

tossa1732

irruption1732

sick1808

tout1808

whither1808

spell1856

go1867

whip1891

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 14147 Þe seke him saris fra heued to fote.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10407 Þai..Wit-vten want has alle þair wis, Wit-vten seke, wit-vten sare.

1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Sick, sickness, a fit of sickness; as, ‘The sick's na aff him’.

1849 Sessions Paper 26 Nov. 5 If I have many such markets as this, it will give me the sick.

1897 W. S. Maugham Liza of Lambeth i This is too bloomin' slow, it gives me the sick.

1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air iv. v. 257 As for the picturesqueness,..it merely gives me the sick.

1960 Spectator 11 Nov. 751 Rackham and all give me the sick.

b. colloquial. on the sick, incapacitated by illness, receiving sickness benefit.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > restrained by ill health

bedridc1000

bedridden1340

bedlarc1440

bedrel1513

bed-sickc1550

clinica1631

bedfasta1639

non-surrective1668

decumbent1689

invalided1837

laid1868

to lay aside1879

wheelchaired1938

on the sick1976

1976 News of World 14 Mar. 11/2 My Dad used to be on the sick for a long time and couldn't work.

1976 Par Golf Aug. 39/3 I didn't realise this would get in the papers. It could cost me my job. I'm on the sick.

1976 L. Thomas Dangerous Davies vii. 68 I took it [sc. an allotment] on..but then I was on the sick for months..and the council..takes it off me.

4. Vomited matter.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > vomiting > vomit

spewingc1380

vomea1382

vomitc1390

voment1482

parbreak1590

vomiture1598

spew1609

puke1705

vomiting1716

vomitus1904

throw-up1918

sick1959

1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren ix. 162 Spread it on the butty nice and thick, Swallow it down with a bucket of sick.

1966 Listener 3 Nov. 651/3 Middle-aged Chelsea ladies are crawling about in each other's sick.

1977 Listener 3 Mar. 282/4 There's blood on the windscreen, sick on the trousers.

Compounds

C1. (Chiefly from the absolute or substantival use: see sense B.)

a. Appropriated or given up to, occupied by, one or more persons in a state of illness. See also sickbed n., sick-house n., sickroom n.Cf. older Flemish sieckkamer, -stoel (Kilian), German siechkammer, -stube, -zimmer, Swedish sjukstuga, -säng.

sick-bay n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital ship > part of ship used as hospital

sick-bay1813

1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 465 The temporary sick~bay, in which they had been heretofore, being pulled down.

1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. Sick-bay, a place set apart in a ship for invalids or wounded men.

1919 W. Lang Sea-lawyer's Log i. 6 Then our guide, a Leading Seaman,..conducted us to the doctor's quarters—or ‘sick bay’, as he expressed it.

1971 P. D. James Shroud for Nightingale iii. 60 She's in the sick bay... It's part of the private wing.

sick-berth n.

ΚΠ

1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 284 We offer the plan of a Sick Berth, which is to be considered as the hospital of a ship of the line.

1863 A. Young Naut. Dict. (ed. 2) Sick-berth attendant, formerly termed Lob~lolly Boy; in a ship of war, a person who attends the surgeon and his assistants.

sick-bungalow n.

ΚΠ

1844 J. H. Stocqueler Hand-bk. India 455 At Almorah there are five bungalows, called sick bungalows, belonging to government.

sick-bunk n.

ΚΠ

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvii. 200 Nearly all our party..were tossing in their sick-bunks.

sick-chamber n.

ΚΠ

1825 W. Scott Betrothed xi, in Tales Crusaders II. 201 Margorie, whose element was a sick-chamber.

1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. xii. 431 The grief or anxiety of a sick chamber.

sick-couch n.

ΚΠ

1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. 265 The sick Couch is preparing, with all the dismal Apparatus,..for Agonies and Death.

1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna iv. v. 77 That gentle Hermit..By my sick couch was busy to and fro.

sick-station n.

ΚΠ

1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xviii. 187 I had carried Mr. Goodfellow to the sick-station with my dog-sledge.

sick tent n.

ΚΠ

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. ii. 132 We set up a..copper-oven on shore near the sick tents.

sick-ward n.

ΚΠ

1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues (new ed.) The sick-ward of an hospitall, la maladerie.

1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 491 The efficacy of these vapours in destroying the offensive smells which occur in sick-wards.

b. Of or pertaining to, or connected with, persons suffering from illness.

sick-allowance n.

ΚΠ

1863 G. O. Trevelyan Lett. from Competition Wallah vii, in Macmillan's Mag. Dec. 131/1 His first ideas..run in the line of sick-leave and sick-allowances.

sick-benefit n.

ΚΠ

1909 Chambers's Jrnl. 26 Dec. 56/2 Members who..may have received sick-benefit.

1952 Oxf. Junior Encycl. X. 171/1 Under the 1911 National Health Act certain registered friendly societies, known as ‘approved societies’, were used by the Government as part of the health scheme to pay out as ‘sick benefit’ sums of money provided by the Government... But after the National Insurance Act of 1946 this use of friendly societies by the Government was discontinued.

sick-book n.

ΚΠ

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-book, an account of such officers and men as are on the sick list on board, or are sent to an hospital, hospital-ship, or sick-quarters.

sick-club n.

ΚΠ

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 220/1 There are no trade-societies among the working men, no benefit nor sick clubs.

sick cookery n.

ΚΠ

1871 G. H. Napheys Prevention & Cure Dis. ii. iii. 489 Sick-cookery should more than half do the work of the poor patient's weak digestion.

sick-dish n.

ΚΠ

1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 137 This is my sick Dish; when I am well, I'll have a bigger.

sick-flag n.

ΚΠ

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-flag, the yellow quarantine flag.

sick-fund n.

ΚΠ

1849 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers v. 53 A portion of the proceeds being handed over to the sick-fund for persons..hurt in the service.

sick-insurance n.

ΚΠ

1899 Month May 462 To master the principles of sick-insurance.

sick-leave n.

ΚΠ

1840 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 179 He would use all interest to get home on sick leave.

1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xxix. 231 He'll be home on sick leave.., the doctor says.

1976 Times 8 Mar. 12/8 Staff are entitled to paid sick leave only if there is a reasonable prospect of their return to duty.

sick-mess n.

ΚΠ

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-mess, a table for those on the doctor's list.

† sick-mistress n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

c1660 in J. Morris Troubles Catholic Forefathers (1872) (modernized text) 1st Ser. vi. 277 The Cellaress and Sick Mistress..remained there.

† sick-nightcap n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1739 T. Herring in J. Duncombe Lett. Several Eminent Persons Deceased (1773) II. 135 A woman, in a sick night-cap hanging over the stairs.

sick-pay n.

ΚΠ

1887 Spectator 15 Oct. 1385 A member of a Benefit Society is not allowed, when receiving sick-pay, to put his hand to a stroke of work.

sick-rate n.

ΚΠ

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 953 A low temperature is always accompanied by a decrease in the sick-rate.

† sick service n. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. i. 52 But you, at your sicke seruice had a Prince.

sick-ticket n.

ΚΠ

1802 E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 37 Discharged with a sick ticket to go home.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-ticket, a document given to an officer, seaman, or marine, when sent to an hospital.

sick-time n.

ΚΠ

1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire II. v. iv. 584 In like manner the sick time [1839 sick-time] is augmented principally by the attacks.

C2.

sick-brained adj.

ΚΠ

1658 2nd Narr. Parl. in Harl. Misc. (1809) III. 474 Whether the protector, and the great men his confederates, be not rather to be termed fanatick, whimsical, and sick-brained, than those who [etc.].

sick-feathered adj.

ΚΠ

1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 107 The latter brood,..Sick-feather'd, and unpractis'd in the sky.

sick-hearted adj.

ΚΠ

a1835 F. D. Hemans Mother, oh! Sing me to Rest in Poet. Wks. (1836) 210/2 Sing to thy child, the sick-hearted, Songs of a spirit oppress'd.

sick-thoughted adj.

ΚΠ

1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. B Sick-thoughted Venus makes amaine vnto him.

1631 F. Quarles Hist. Samson viii From his loathed Bed, Sicke-thoughted Samson rose.

sick-fallen adj.

ΚΠ

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. iii. 154 And vast confusion waites As doth a Rauen on a sicke-falne beast.

sick-pale adj.

ΚΠ

1810 G. Crabbe Borough xx. 280 She and that sick-pale Brother.

sick-sweet adj.

ΚΠ

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 429 The odour of the sicksweet [printed sicksewet] weed floats towards him.

sick-tired adj.

ΚΠ

1861 J. Barr Poems 11 I'm sick tired o' a bachelor life.

1896 Harper's Mag. Apr. 742/2 Gordon was sick-tired of journalistic chatter.

sick-making adj. and n.

ΚΠ

1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies i. 7 Sometimes the ship pitched and sometimes she rolled... ‘Too, too sick~making,’ said Miss Runcible, with one of her rare flashes of accuracy.

1938 D. Thomas Let. c6 July in Sel. Lett. (1966) 203 There will be speechmaking, drunkmaking, sickmaking and we must all dress up.

1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate i. vi. 59 I'm in a terrible do about my [stolen] bracelet of lucky charms—no value to anybody else—really—too too sick-making.

1976 I. Illich Limits to Med. 7 What has turned health care into a sick-making enterprise is the very intensity of an engineering endeavour.

1978 Times 5 Oct. 2/4 What is sickmaking is the IBA..trying to make the BBC out as the monster and them the viewers' guardian.

d. (in nouns, used attributive)

sick-child n.

ΚΠ

1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance I. xxvii. 302 In a soft, whining, sick-child sort of voice.

sick-heart n.

ΚΠ

1875 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids xii. 850 Sick-heart men.

C3.

sick-bag n. a bag provided in aircraft, ships, etc., as a receptacle for vomit.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > other medical equipment > [noun] > vessels > receiving vessels

hornc1000

urinalc1300

urinal-glass1651

receiver1767

urine-glass1880

Vacutainer1946

sick-bag1962

vomit bag1975

sample bottle1977

1962 W. Schirra in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 33 On the plane, John Glenn and Al Shepard took one of the brown paper ‘sick~bags’ and scribbled on it: ‘Here is the answer to the air sickness problem.’

1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vi. 71 The accustomed routine with Kleenex and sick bags..and barley sugar.

sick call n. (a) (originally and chiefly Military), a call sounded to summon those reporting sick to a place of treatment; an assembly for medical treatment; (b) a visit made to a sick person; (c) a summons to visit a sick person.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > [noun] > call summoning for treatment

sick call1836

society > leisure > social event > visit > [noun] > to sick or distressed persons

visit1709

sick call1976

society > leisure > social event > visit > visiting > [noun] > of sick > summons to

sick call1978

1836 J. Hildreth Dragoon Campaigns Rocky Mts. 114 Every morning..‘sick call’ blows.

1850 E. Price (title) Sick calls: from the diary of a missionary priest.

1883 M. E. Herbert tr. Life St. John Baptist de Rossi iii. iv. 147 The servants never again dared to fail to warn him of any sick call.

1908 E. C. Booth Cliff End v. 37 You can be almost sure of catching me,..without there be sick calls.

1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Sick Call, a signal on the bugle or drum and fife for the formation of the sick squads.

1930 F. A. Pottle Stretchers 31 Sick call is blown before the dispensary door.

1931 P. J. Joyce John Healy ii. 37 That imperious, unmistakable sick-call knock.

1945 Yank 13 July 19/2 A punitive measure to discourage falling out for sick call.

1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 1- b/4 There is a daily sick call by a local doctor for the inmates.

1977 New Yorker 24 Oct. 106/2 A third way for an inmate to see a doctor is to go to sick call, which is held each weekday morning at Green Haven on the first floor of the Hospital-Segregation Building.

1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends iv. ii. 389 I was a young priest at the time, see, and I get this sick-call.

sick communion n. an administration of Holy Communion to a sick person.

ΚΠ

1930 S. Kaye-Smith Shepherds in Sackcloth vii. § 11 Will you tell me..how many sick Communions you have weekly?

sick-feeder n. a vessel resembling a cup for feeding invalids.

ΚΠ

1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 1316 Sick Feeders.

sick headache n. = migraine n.; also in phrases as a type of something useless or unhelpful.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > pain in specific parts > [noun] > in head > migraine

demigranec1400

megrim1440

emigrane1483

hemicrane?1550

hemicrania1657

migraine1777

sick headache1784

brow-ague1855

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > [noun] > that which is useless > typically

sick headache1915

a hole in the head1951

1784 Fothergill in Med. Observ. & Inquiries VI. 103 Remarks on that Complaint commonly known under the Name of the Sick Head-ach.

1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 286 A dissertation on the sick head-ach,..by Dr. Nathaniel Dwight.

1857 M. O. Colt Jrnl. 18 May (1862) xii. 218 I..was obliged..to..stay two nights and one day, suffering with a sick headache.

1884 ‘Ouida’ Princess Napraxine (1886) i. 5 No doubt, it is utterly wrong, and would give him a sick headache.

1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 153 Shrapnel is for defenders, to stop an advance of infantry, but no more use against prepared positions than a sick headache.

1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xii. 252 That pair in the back, between them, are about as much use as a sick headache.

sick parade n. Military an inspection of those who are ill; the people on sick parade.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > healing > patient > [noun] > collectively > military

sick parade1915

1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand xi. 137 M'Splae departs, grumbling, and reappears on sick parade a few days later.

1925 E. F. Norton in E. F. Norton et al. Fight for Everest: 1924 47 He took the daily sick parade, and had an equally unerring eye for a malingerer or for the stout heart that made light of a genuine ailment.

1927 R. H. Mottram Spanish Farm Trilogy 258 Do you know what a sick parade I've got? Eighty! Yes, I have.

1966 Times 9 July 9/7 Command Orders say... Sick Parade has now become ‘sick list’.

sick visiting n. (see quot. 1933).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > social event > visit > visiting > [noun] > of sick

sick visiting1933

1933 N.E.D. Suppl. at Sick 10 b Sick visiting, the visiting of the sick, esp. by a minister of religion.

1960 N. Nicholson William Cowper 13 A most exacting life of piety, prayer-meetings, self-denial, and sick-visiting.

1977 West Briton 25 Aug. 11/1 He paid tribute to Mr. Clay's work, especially his sick visiting.

Draft additions August 2004

slang (now esp. Skateboarding and Surfing). Excellent, impressive; risky.

ΚΠ

1983 UNC-CH Campus Slang (Univ. N. Carolina, Chapel Hill) (typescript) Spring 5 Sick, unbelievably good: The Fleetwood Mac concert was sick.

1992 Caribbean Week Apr. 26/1 ‘A really sick car’ is an attractive, eye-catching vehicle and not one that's ready for the repair shop.

1997 BMX Plus! Apr. 56 (caption) Jeff Harrington has some of the sickest jumping variations we have ever seen.

2002 U.S. News & World Rep. 21 Jan. 63/1 ‘That's siiiick!’ gushes an admiring fan.

Draft additions May 2001

sick building n. a building, typically a large, older, relatively poorly maintained office building, in which occupants report an increased incidence of non-specific upper respiratory and other symptoms (sick building syndrome), which have been attributed to factors such as temperature, humidity, indoor air pollutants, noise levels, and visual display units; also in extended use.

ΚΠ

1983 Progressive Archit. Mar. 143/1 To the degree that buildings have always developed problems, there have always been people concerned with healing, or at least treating the symptoms of, ‘sick’ buildings.

1987 Washington Business Jrnl. 6 July 21 Within these potentially infested, or ‘sick’ buildings, occupants often have hints of trouble right under their noses.

1996 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 14 Sept. Several risk factors..have been identified from a large number of studies on the epidemiology of the syndrome and investigations of ‘sick’ buildings.

1997 GQ Sept. 147/2 Stein viewed Scottish football as a sick building where it was difficult to stay ‘without catching some of the disease’.

Draft additions May 2001

sick building syndrome n. a syndrome of uncertain aetiology consisting of non-specific, mild upper respiratory symptoms (stuffy nose, itchy eyes, sore throat), headache and fatigue, experienced by occupants of ‘sick buildings’; (also) the environmental conditions existing in such a building; abbreviated SBS (cf. tight building syndrome n. at tight adj., adv., and n.² Additions).

ΚΠ

1983 Industry Week 2 May 45/2 We're seeing more and more large, centrally ventilated buildings that suffer from the sick-building syndrome.

1985 Company Dec. 34/2 Sick building syndrome is relatively new to doctors, but increasing numbers of people are suffering headaches, breathing and nasal problems as a result of faulty air conditioning, poor lighting and extra heat given out by computer systems.

1996 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 14 Sept. Risk factors for sick building syndrome:..sedentary occupation, clerical work..low ceilings..low supply rate of outdoor air..damp areas and mould growth..dust, solvents, and ozone emissions from printers and photocopiers.., low frequency noise [etc.].

1999 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 9 Nov. 49/6 With additional concerns of sick building syndrome at Cedar Hill, rising from complaints of a ‘rotten egg’ smell in a bathroom, the district also hired environmental health experts to evaluate overall health conditions at the school.

Draft additions June 2007

sick puppy n. originally and chiefly U.S. (a) colloquial a very ill person; (b) slang an abnormal, deviant, or deranged person.

ΚΠ

1948 S. Spewack Busy Busy People xi. 121 ‘I'm sick,’ said Brell... But Pop merely chuckled. ‘Poor little sick puppy.’

1960 M. Davenport Constant Image xiv. 203 He's given her a shot of something to calm her stomach. She really is much better, but she was a sick puppy this morning.

1982 Boston Globe 3 Sept. 24/1 Dismissing..Burke..as ‘a sick puppy’.

2003 P. Reed One 8 We think you're a sick puppy, mister.

Draft additions June 2016

sick note n. a note confirming a person's absence from work, school, etc., due to illness, esp. a formal certificate signed by a doctor for an employer.

ΚΠ

1836 Central Criminal Court: Minutes of Evid. 3 672 I was absent from duty on the 27th—I had been unwell, and was absent four or five days by a sick note.

1877 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 28 Feb. 3/3 There was a very great difficulty in getting these sick notes signed by the surgeons of regiments.

1982 O. Clark Diary 23 Feb. (1998) 115 Ordered to bed for a week and given a sick note.

2010 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 340 1303/2 She telephoned the surgery asking for a sick note as she was unable to get to work.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	sick
释义	sickadj.n. Brit. /sɪk/, U.S. /sɪk/ Forms: α. Old English–Middle English seoc (Old English seoch, sioc), Middle English seo(c)k; Middle English sæc, seac, seak (1800s dialect), Middle English, 1500s seake; Old English–Middle English sec (Middle English cec), Middle English sek (Middle English cek), Middle English–1500s seke (Middle English ceke), Middle English seeke; Middle English siec, Middle English siek(e, Middle English–1500s (1800s dialect) seek, Middle English seyk, Middle English–1500s Scottish seik. β. Middle English suc, sic, Middle English–1500s sik (Middle English zik), 1500s–1600s sicke (1500s sycke), 1500s– sick (1800s dialect zick), 1500s sickk. γ. Middle English sijk (Middle English siik, syyk, Middle English siyk), Middle English sijke (Middle English siike, Middle English syike); Middle English syk, Middle English–1500s syke (Middle English zyke); Middle English, 1600s sike. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Common Germanic: Old English séoc, = Old Frisian siak, sieck, sek (West Frisian siik, †sjeack), Middle Dutch siec, ziec (Dutch ziek), Old Saxon siok, seok, siak (Middle Low German sêk, seik, sik, Low German seek, siek, sük), Old High German siuh, sioh, seoh, siach, siech (Middle High German and German siech), Old Norse and Icelandic sjúkr (Norwegian and Swedish sjuk, Danish syg), Gothic siuks. Relationship to other Germanic roots is uncertain, and no outside cognates have been traced. The variation of vowel in some Middle English forms is not easy to account for. A. adj. I. Suffering from a physical ailment. 1. a. Suffering from illness of any kind; ill, unwell, ailing. Also, to go sick, to become ill, to report sick. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased untrumc825 sickc888 unwholec888 slackc897 unstronga900 sicklea1000 sam-halea1023 worseOE attaint1303 languishinga1325 heallessc1374 sicklyc1374 sicklewa1387 bada1393 mishalea1400 languoring?c1425 distempered1440 unwell?c1450 detent?a1475 poora1475 languorousc1475 maladif1481 illa1500 maladiousc1500 wanthriven1508 attainted1509 unsound1513 acrazed1521 cracked1527 unsoundya1529 visited1537 infirmed1552 crazed1555 healthless1568 ill-liking1572 afflicted1574 crazy1576 unhealthful1580 sickish1581 valetudinary1581 not well1587 fainty1590 ill-disposed1596 unhealthsome1598 tainted1600 ill-affected1604 peaking1611 unhealthy1611 infirmited1616 disaffected1626 physical1633 illish1637 pimping1640 invalid1642 misaffected1645 valetudinarious1648 unhale1653 badly1654 unwholesome1655 valetudinous1655 morbulent1656 off the hooksa1658 mawkish1668 morbid1668 unthriven1680 unsane1690 ailing1716 not wellish1737 underlya1742 poorly1750 indifferent1753 comical1755 maladized1790 sober1808 sickened1815 broken-down1816 peaky1821 poorlyish1827 souffrante1827 run-down1831 sicklied1835 addle1844 shaky1844 mean1845 dauncy1846 stricken1846 peakyish1853 po'ly1860 pindling1861 rough1882 rocky1883 suffering1885 wabbit1895 icky-boo1920 like death warmed up1924 icky1938 ropy1945 crappy1956 hanging1971 sick as a parrot1982 shite1987 the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > fall ill sicklec1000 sicka1150 sickenc1175 evil1303 mislike?1440 fall1526 to take a conceit1543 to fall down?1571 to lay upa1616 to run of (or on) a garget1615 craze1658 invalid1829 wreck1876 collapse1879 to go sick1879 to sicken for1883 α. c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxvi. §5 Swa swa læca gewuna is..ðonne hi siocne mon gesioð. 971 Blickl. Hom. 59 Eal swylce seo lange mettrumnes biþ þæs seocan mannes. c1020 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1015 Þa læg se cyng seoc æt Cosham. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3380 Swa þe king seoc [c1300 Otho seac] læi. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1175 Abimalech wurð sek on-on. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 65 He makth him siek, whan he is heil. a1400 K. Alis. (Laud) 6978 Now man is hool, now man is seek. c1440 Generydes 199 Youre fader is right seke this day. 1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 5 It proffiteth as a good medicine couenably yeuen to them that be seke. c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xx. 130 Quhat medycyn can help ane seik man that hurtis hym selue vilfully..? 1580 J. Haye in Catholic Tractates (S.T.S.) 46 Is any seake amang you, lat him call for the preistes of the kirk. 1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 150 ‘I was nowther seak nor sair when I said it’,..that is, in no way incapacitated so as to render my evidence. β. c1200 Moral Ode (Trin. Coll. MS.) 201 Nare noman elles dead ne sic ne non unsele.c1275 Laȝamon Brut 2794 Þo iwarþ þe king sick.c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 3861 Elydour feyned hym sik to lye.c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 46 Þouȝ I be simpul & sik neþeles I wile euere haue a clerk þat schal do me dyuyne office.a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail li. l. 187 These herbes don me but distresse,..for I am Sykkere thanne I was before.1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Eiii^v So that none of them was sicke or miscaryed by the way.1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 493 In this meane while, king Henry waxed sicker and sicker.1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 191 The one of these being very sicke, and, as was thought, in danger of death.1674 R. Godfrey Var. Injuries in Physick 83 Instead of growing sicker, they are far more chearfull.1709 Tatler No. 86. ⁋3 At whose right hand he had sat at every Quarter-Sessions this Thirty Years, unless he was Sick.1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. II. iii. 183 At Issus he barbarously put to death all the Greeks who were sick in that city.1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxiv. 299 If she could be spared to come down and console a poor sick lonely old woman.1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper iii. 37 In order that another young one from some other pair..may be given the parents to feed off their soft meat, and save them from ‘going sick’ with it.1891 E. A. Freeman Let. 25 Oct. in W. R. W. Stephens Life & Lett. E. A. Freeman (1895) II. 443 She too has been sick and sent up to Ilkley in Yorkshire.1902 W. B. Yeats Where there is Nothing (1903) iv. i. 77 No fear, they won't refuse a sick man.1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 53 He's lots better this morning,..and he is not ‘going sick’ at all.1927 E. Thompson These Men thy Friends 12 Filthy climate. No fun. But she just carries on. Hasn't gone sick once in six months.1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 95 To go sick under false pretences.1936 G. B. Shaw Millionairess ii, in Simpleton, Six, & Millionairess 164 You are my doctor: do you hear? I am a sick woman: you cannot abandon me to die.1945 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 452/1 ‘And you're telling me that you've never had a few days off?.. Not even for sick-leave?’ ‘I was never sick, sir.’1952 M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke iv. 77 He went sick... It was so hopeless, so damned silly and forlorn as a lead-swing that in the end he got away with it.1956 D. Jacobson Dance in Sun ii. ix. 91 ‘Hey,’ he said rudely to Fletcher, ‘are you sick?’1959 V. Watkins Cypress & Acacia 23 I found him feeble and sick. And cold.1962 G. Lawton John Wesley's English iii. 57 When Wesley is sick he is ‘laid-up.’1976 Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 24/4 Willis went sick during the opening match in Poona.figurative.1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. i. 96 Thy death-bed is no lesser than thy land, Wherein thou liest in reputation sicke . View more context for this quotation1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 59 Sicke in the worlds regard. View more context for this quotationγ. c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 28 Þis bok he leide ope þis man, ase he so sijk þer lay.c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 132 Þe Monenday sore syk þe bischop thomas lay.c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 3126 Þai wende þe quen wald dye, So sike sche was bi siȝt.?a1366 Romaunt Rose 1358 That is a fruyt ful wel to lyke, Namely to folk whan they ben syke.c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 194 The feend which was in a famose ymage in a temple made the peple sijk.1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xii. 294 I have lever deye than be longe syke.1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer 27 Serm. ii. f. 103 Oure sauiour was goyng to the house, where thys younge mayde laye sycke. b. Const. of, with (†in, on).Also in figurative contexts, cf. A. 3, A. 4. ΚΠ c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 23 Men þat ben siike in þe palesy. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 148 Be war..thou be noght sik Of thilke fievere [jealousy] as I have spoke. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) cxi. 385 Many sondry frutys so fayre..that a syke man of any infyrmyte shuld sone recouer helth. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI 13 b Ihon Lilie fel sicke on the gowte. 1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 136 To a sicke man of the ague, all drinkes seeme bitter. a1618 J. Sylvester Auto-machia 68 Sick to my Self I run for my reliefe: So, Sicker of my Physicke than my Griefe. 1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. xxxvii. 11) 288 Self-love, ignorance, &c...make the soul sick of the fret. 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 67 You are sick of the Mulligrubs, with eating chopt Hay. a1774 O. Goldsmith tr. P. Scarron Comic Romance (1775) I. xxix. 320 This inn-keeper..being sick of a violent fever. a1882 J. P. Quincy Figures of Past (1884) 199 New York had succumbed to the influenza. Everybody had been..sick with it. c. Of parts of the body: Not in a sound or healthy state.In later use usually with suggestion of sense A. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > of parts sick1340 infirma1616 vicious1615 wronged1634 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 148 Yef þe on leme is zik oþer y-wonded. c1400 Brut. cci. 229 Seynt Thomas come vnto him, and enoynted oueral his sike side. ?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 17 Wher the heed is seke or euyll þe membres may not be hoole ner good. 1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 33^v Laye thys upon the sycke place. 1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xvii. 48 The kidneys might be sick, or..could not be nourished with good blood. 1700 W. King Transactioneer ii. 48 At last his Third Finger was sick. 1786 A. M. Bennett Juvenile Indiscretions I. 169 And had a sick stomach. 1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. II. 115 A Sick Stomach will not digest the food that may be forced down it. 1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 39 All that it inherits Are motes of a sick eye. d. sick man n. a term frequently applied, during the latter part of the 19th cent., to the Sultan of Turkey. Also figurative, originally applied to Turkey and hence to other countries, regions, etc., and in extended uses.Quot. 1853 refers to a conversation between the Tsar Nicholas I and Sir G. Seymour at St. Petersburg on the 21 February 1853. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > liability to harm, loss, etc. > vulnerable part, thing, or person gap1548 weak link1581 subjecta1593 sitting1618 blota1657 soft spot1770 Achilles heel1839 sick man1853 soft underbelly1942 society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] > Saracen or Arab ruler > specific sick man1853 1853 Ann. Register, Hist. 252 I am not so eager about what shall be done when the sick man dies, as I am to determine with England what shall not be done upon that event taking place. 1855 J. Martineau Ess., Rev., & Addr. I. (1890) 428 It was all right not to let the ‘sick man’ be frightened into convulsions. 1860 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands I. ii. 30 That formidable potentate, not then the ‘sick man’ whose precarious condition and territorial inheritance cause so much anxiety in modern days. 1860 S. S. Cox Eight Years in Congr. (1865) 129 ‘Mexico is our “sick man”.’ ‘Yes; she is to America what Turkey is to Europe.’ 1868 C. Schurz Speeches, Corr. & Pol. Papers (1913) I. 456 The South is our ‘sick man’... The ‘sick man’ has been operated upon by Democratic doctors once more. 1888 S. Lane-Poole Turkey xvii. 343 The Powers have always acted on the principle that somebody must serve as a dyke between Russia and the Bosphorus, and that Turkey, being there, had better be maintained in her position. The ‘Sick Man’ of the morbid mind of Nicholas must be galvanized into sufficient vitality to sit up and pretend to be well. 1897 Japan Times 30 Mar. 3/4 Mr Valentine Chirol, who shortly after the war published in the London Times a series of remarkable articles exposing the rottenness of China..has recently been in the East again..and has commenced a second series of equally striking articles on the ‘Sick Man of Asia’. 1901 Daily Express 18 Mar. 4/4 French dealings with the Sultan of Morocco, the Sick Man of Africa. 1918 Times 3 Jan. 5/1 The Sick Man of Europe has changed his doctors, and the new doctors..have prescribed participation in the European war. 1918 Times 3 Jan. 5/2 The Sick Man finds himself less sick than his neighbour, and Russia defenceless offers her flanks to Turkey's sharpest blades. 1929 H. M. Kallen Frontiers of Hope 451 Under the terms of the Peace the Jew has simply been made to replace the Turk as the Sick Man of Europe. 1959 Listener 30 July 168/2 It was Italy which turned the Austrian empire into a second ‘sick man’. 1961 N. Smart in I. Ramsey Prospect for Metaphysics v. 80 Natural theology is the Sick Man of Europe. 1963 Times 31 Jan. 11/1 There is no imminent threat to it, but once that is passed India would be on the way to becoming in economic terms the sick man of Asia. 1967 Listener 26 Jan. 116/2 In December 1958 France was the sick man of Europe; it had no exchange reserves and was incapable of facing the Common Market. 1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 205 The movie's not always the sick man of the arts. 1974 Times 4 May 8/4 I have been wondering who now qualifies for the title of Sick Man of Sound Broadcasting. 1979 G. St. Aubyn Edward VII vii. 319 China was the sick man of the Orient over whose corpse the vultures hovered. e. northern dialect. In childbed, confined, lying-in. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [adjective] childbed1494 in the strawa1661 lying-in1711 sick1828 1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) s.v. 1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) s.v. †f. Said of pigeons which have lost their young and so have no recipient for the soft food that they regurgitate. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [adjective] > of or belonging to pigeon and dove > without young to feed (of pigeon) sick1765 1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 21 If your Pigeons do not hatch, because their eggs are addle, or otherwise, you should give them a pair, or at least one young one, to feed off their soft meat, which would be apt to make them sick. 1854 L. A. Meall Moubray's Treat. Poultry viii. 455 We have never observed the old birds ‘sick’ (as most books assert they are) when the young have died. 1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper iii. 37 In order that another young one from some other pair..may be given the parents to feed off their soft meat, and save them from ‘going sick’ with it. g. slang (originally U.S.). Of a drug addict, craving for a dose of a drug, suffering from withdrawal symptoms. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > drug addiction or craving > [adjective] > suffering withdrawal symptoms (of addict) sick1951 1951 N.Y. Times 15 June 14/6 I..would walk up and..ask the bartender: ‘Say, have you seen so-and-so yet?’ I says: ‘Man, I'm sick.’ 1953 W. S. Burroughs Junkie vii. 69 The usual routine is to grab someone with junk on him, and let him stew in jail until he is good and sick. 1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene in Great Brit. vii. 91 Even now, more than two years after leaving hospital, I still feel sometimes sick in the morning when I am tense or upset, and I feel sick whenever I see syringes or ‘addicts’ in TV plays. 2. a. Having an inclination to vomit, or being actually in the condition of vomiting. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > affected by nausea > of person squeamishc1450 qualmish1548 wamble-cropped1552 wamble-stomached1552 qualming1576 queasy1579 queasy-stomached1579 kecklish1601 keckish1603 nauseous1613 nauseative1620 sick1631 sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653 vomiturient1666 sick as a horse1705 qualmyish1831 squeamy1838 qualmy1846 queachy1859 squalmish1867 wambly1872 ill1928 naar1969 sick as a parrot1979 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > relating to vomiting > vomiting vominga1382 spewinga1425 sick1631 sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653 puking1675 sick as a horse1705 parbreaking1746 vomiting1879 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre v. vi. 87 in Wks. II O lend me a bason, I am sicke, I am sicke. 1656 tr. T. White Peripateticall Inst. 130 Those who are sick with riding in a Coach. 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 34 He was very sick and brought it up again. 1778 F. Burney Let. 5 July in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1994) III. Precipices, that, to look at, make my head giddy and my heart sick. 1815 J. W. Croker in L. J. Jennings Croker Papers (1884) I. iii. 75 The men were all sick, and the women and children thought they were going to the bottom. 1900 T. C. Allbutt Syst. Med. V. 628 The patient, if he is in the house, usually crouches over the fire and feels sick and giddy. figurative.1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 112 When the noon of summer made The valleys sick with heat.1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xiii. i, in Maud & Other Poems 44 But his essences turn'd the live air sick. b. More fully sick at (or to, in) the stomach. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > affected by nausea > of person squeamishc1450 qualmish1548 wamble-cropped1552 wamble-stomached1552 qualming1576 queasy1579 queasy-stomached1579 kecklish1601 keckish1603 nauseous1613 nauseative1620 sick1631 sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653 vomiturient1666 sick as a horse1705 qualmyish1831 squeamy1838 qualmy1846 queachy1859 squalmish1867 wambly1872 ill1928 naar1969 sick as a parrot1979 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > relating to vomiting > vomiting vominga1382 spewinga1425 sick1631 sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653 puking1675 sick as a horse1705 parbreaking1746 vomiting1879 1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme ii. vii The Dog, when he is sick at the Stomach, knows his Cure, falls to his Grass, vomits, and is well. 1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 489 Antronius comes..to say, that he is sick at the stomach. 1753 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 48 Sick in my Stomach all the Morning—Owing to their hard Food. 1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Sick as a horse. Horses are said to be extremely sick at their stomachs, from being unable to relieve themselves by vomiting. 1831 T. Hope Ess. Origin Man II. 320 The elephant [will] eat sugar-plums till he turns sick at the stomach. 1863 A. Trollope in Cornhill Mag. Aug. 228 How well can I remember the terror created within me by..a certain fine old gentleman... I would become sick in my stomach. 1923 R. D. Paine Comrades Rolling Ocean xii. 203 ‘It makes me feel sick at my stomach’, declared Briscoe. ‘Here's where you feel sicker. Great Scott, look at that.’ 1947 A. Huxley Let. 9 Apr. (1969) 570 I heard a bit of the Parsifal Good Friday music at Easter~time.., and it made me feel even more ‘sick to my stomach’, as the Americans say, than in the past. 1948 ‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair xiii. 139 You make me sick—Cat-sick. Sick to my stomach. 1955 Jrnl. Canad. Linguistic Assoc. Mar. 17 Another expression which has some striking variants depending on the choice of preposition is sick at the stomach. In the Northern speech area of the United States the usual equivalent is sick to the stomach; in the Midland and Southern areas, at is the usual preposition... In New England..and most of the Yankee settlement areas, to enjoys a virtual monopoly. In northwest New York State, however, sick at the stomach is unusually common. 1975 Times 30 June 17/5 If all the factories are nationalized I shall walk out of here sick to the stomach. c. In phrases sick as a dog, sick as a horse, etc. (Sense sometimes merging with A. 4). Also sick as a parrot (a fanciful catchphrase, chiefly used jocularly). ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective] angeredc1275 miseasedc1390 woea1398 forpainedc1400 labouringc1425 passive?a1439 painedc1450 loaden1542 sored1557 stressed1559 pinched1566 grieved1586 suffering1609 heavy-laden1611 undergoinga1616 vulned1628 loaded1661 afflicted1690 sick as a parrot1705 crosseda1732 wrung1862 traumatized1935 fraught1966 the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective] sorelyc888 gramec893 sorrowfuleOE unblithec897 sorryeOE carefulOE charyOE sickOE yomerOE sorry-moodOE sweerc1000 yomerlyOE sorrilyOE woea1200 balec1220 sorry?c1225 sorec1275 sorec1275 gremefula1300 sada1300 ruthlyc1300 thoughtfulc1300 woebegonea1325 heavyc1330 grievousc1374 woefula1375 sorrowya1382 dereful?a1400 sorousa1400 sytefula1400 teenfula1400 wrotha1400 balefulc1400 tristy?c1400 tristc1420 dolefulc1430 wapped in woec1440 yhevidc1440 dolenta1450 condolentc1460 discomforted1477 tristfula1492 sorrow1496 dram?a1513 dolorous1513 earnful?1527 troublous1535 amort1546 mournfula1558 passioned1560 sadded1566 tristive1578 distressed1586 passionate1586 sorrowed1596 distressful1601 passionful1605 sighful1606 contristed1625 anguishinga1642 sadful1658 saddened1665 tristitious1694 sick as a parrot1705 pangful1727 woesome1778 grieving1807 ruesome1833 yearned1838 doleant1861 mournsome1869 thoughted1869 tragical1887 grief-stricken1905 the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > feeling ill squeamish1670 howish1694 sick as a horse1705 nohowish1816 all-overish1820 washed out1850 all-over1861 wisht1868 crappy1956 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > affected by nausea > of person squeamishc1450 qualmish1548 wamble-cropped1552 wamble-stomached1552 qualming1576 queasy1579 queasy-stomached1579 kecklish1601 keckish1603 nauseous1613 nauseative1620 sick1631 sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653 vomiturient1666 sick as a horse1705 qualmyish1831 squeamy1838 qualmy1846 queachy1859 squalmish1867 wambly1872 ill1928 naar1969 sick as a parrot1979 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [adjective] > relating to vomiting > vomiting vominga1382 spewinga1425 sick1631 sick at (or to, in) the stomach1653 puking1675 sick as a horse1705 parbreaking1746 vomiting1879 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > disappointment > [adjective] > disappointed disappointed1578 sick as a parrot1979 gutted1984 the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased untrumc825 sickc888 unwholec888 slackc897 unstronga900 sicklea1000 sam-halea1023 worseOE attaint1303 languishinga1325 heallessc1374 sicklyc1374 sicklewa1387 bada1393 mishalea1400 languoring?c1425 distempered1440 unwell?c1450 detent?a1475 poora1475 languorousc1475 maladif1481 illa1500 maladiousc1500 wanthriven1508 attainted1509 unsound1513 acrazed1521 cracked1527 unsoundya1529 visited1537 infirmed1552 crazed1555 healthless1568 ill-liking1572 afflicted1574 crazy1576 unhealthful1580 sickish1581 valetudinary1581 not well1587 fainty1590 ill-disposed1596 unhealthsome1598 tainted1600 ill-affected1604 peaking1611 unhealthy1611 infirmited1616 disaffected1626 physical1633 illish1637 pimping1640 invalid1642 misaffected1645 valetudinarious1648 unhale1653 badly1654 unwholesome1655 valetudinous1655 morbulent1656 off the hooksa1658 mawkish1668 morbid1668 unthriven1680 unsane1690 ailing1716 not wellish1737 underlya1742 poorly1750 indifferent1753 comical1755 maladized1790 sober1808 sickened1815 broken-down1816 peaky1821 poorlyish1827 souffrante1827 run-down1831 sicklied1835 addle1844 shaky1844 mean1845 dauncy1846 stricken1846 peakyish1853 po'ly1860 pindling1861 rough1882 rocky1883 suffering1885 wabbit1895 icky-boo1920 like death warmed up1924 icky1938 ropy1945 crappy1956 hanging1971 sick as a parrot1982 shite1987 1705 J. Vanbrugh Confederacy ii. i If..he shou'd chance to be fond, he'd make me as sick as a Dog. 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 67 Poor Miss, she's sick as a Cushion, she wants nothing but stuffing. 1765 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VII. ii. 8 I am sick as a horse, quoth I, already. a1843 R. Southey Doctor (1847) VII. 79 T' Trees gang fleeing by..an' gars yan be as seek as a peeate. 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 233 Sick as a horse, a common vulgar simile, used when a person is exceedingly sick without vomiting. 1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. xi. 207 It turned me as sick as a dog. a1906 ‘T. Collins’ Rigby's Romance (1946) xli. 221 Well, by-and-by I woke up, sick as a dog, with my face all scorched, and I lay down again. 1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps vii. 161 I had a crushing headache, and felt as sick as a cat. 1947 A. Ransome Great Northern? xix. 238 ‘Sick as cats with himself,’ said Nancy. 1979 Private Eye 16 Feb. 12/1 The Moggatollah admitted frankly that he was ‘sick as a parrot’ at the way events had been unfolding. 1982 Daily Star 5 Feb. 5/6 Peter the budgie was sick as a parrot until a vet diagnosed his problem yesterday. Peter..has got gout! d. In phrases to worry (oneself), be worried, sick. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > [adjective] troubleda1325 troublyc1340 troublec1374 worried1559 betoiled1622 aerumnous1658 fidgety1736 fretful1737 fretted1756 tanglesome1823 awful1865 hincty1929 toey1930 to worry (oneself), be worried, sick1952 noodgy1969 the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > be worried [verb (intransitive)] to annoy of?c1400 fret1551 moil1567 ferret1807 worrit1854 worry1860 whittle1880 fidget1884 agonize1915 to worry (oneself), be worried, sick1952 to stress out1983 stress1988 the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being upset or perturbed > worry > [verb (reflexive)] fretc1290 overfret1445 solicita1450 turmoil?1529 moila1560 to fret one's gizzard1755 to worry (oneself), be worried, sick1952 1952 M. Laski Village v. 89 Edith Wilson had heard about Wendy's illness, and worried herself sick, not knowing what to do for the best. 1961 ‘J. le Carré’ Call for Dead iv. 37 You look worried sick. 1977 R. Ludlum Chancellor Manuscript xxx. 320 She hasn't been able to sleep. She's worried sick. II. Suffering from spiritual or moral corruption; deeply affected for a feeling of sorrow, etc. †3. Spiritually or morally ailing; corrupt through sin or wrongdoing. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [adjective] sickc960 foulOE unwholec1000 thewlessa1327 corrupt1340 viciousc1340 unwholesomec1374 infecta1387 rustyc1390 unsound?a1400 rottenc1400 rotten-heartedc1405 cankereda1450 infectedc1449 wasted1483 depravate?1520 poisoned1529 deformed1555 poisonous1555 reprobate1557 corrupted1563 prave1564 base-minded1573 tainted1577 Gomorrhean1581 vice-like1589 depraved1593 debauched1598 deboshedc1598 tarish1601 sunk1602 speckled1603 deboist1604 diseased1608 ulcerous1611 vitial1614 debauchc1616 deboise1632 pravous1653 depravea1711 unhealthy1821 scrofulous1842 septic1914 society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > [adjective] > corrupted or corrupt > morally sick or diseased sickc960 unwholec1000 cankereda1450 gangrened1591 diseased1608 ulcerous1611 gangrenous1628 ulcerated1634 ulcerate1654 c960 Rule St. Benet (Schröer) ii. 11 Gif he..his seocum, þæt is synfullum dædum ealle lacnunge gegearewade. OE Cynewulf Juliana 65 Hæðne wæron begen synnum seoce, sweor ond aþum. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 134 Þeflesch..Makie sec þe saule. a1300 Cursor Mundi 25329 Bot if þi saul it be sua seke þat þou þi mode mai nagat meke. 1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xx. 303 Go salue þo þat syke ben and þorw synne ywounded. 1404–8 26 Pol. Poems vii. 5 The flesch..Is wormes mete, and sek of synne. R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 90 To so seyk & vnclene myndis..Aungell foyd sall not sauyr. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 109 Mony was seik of ane vice; to wit, immoderat libertie of lyfe. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 201 I meant to rectifie my Conscience, which I then did feele full sicke . View more context for this quotation 1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) vi. i And heal my Soul diseas'd and sick. 4. a. Deeply affected by some strong feeling, as (a) sorrow, (b) longing, (c) envy, (d) repugnance or loathing, producing effects similar or comparable to those of physical ailments. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > [adjective] sorelyc888 gramec893 sorrowfuleOE unblithec897 sorryeOE carefulOE charyOE sickOE yomerOE sorry-moodOE sweerc1000 yomerlyOE sorrilyOE woea1200 balec1220 sorry?c1225 sorec1275 sorec1275 gremefula1300 sada1300 ruthlyc1300 thoughtfulc1300 woebegonea1325 heavyc1330 grievousc1374 woefula1375 sorrowya1382 dereful?a1400 sorousa1400 sytefula1400 teenfula1400 wrotha1400 balefulc1400 tristy?c1400 tristc1420 dolefulc1430 wapped in woec1440 yhevidc1440 dolenta1450 condolentc1460 discomforted1477 tristfula1492 sorrow1496 dram?a1513 dolorous1513 earnful?1527 troublous1535 amort1546 mournfula1558 passioned1560 sadded1566 tristive1578 distressed1586 passionate1586 sorrowed1596 distressful1601 passionful1605 sighful1606 contristed1625 anguishinga1642 sadful1658 saddened1665 tristitious1694 sick as a parrot1705 pangful1727 woesome1778 grieving1807 ruesome1833 yearned1838 doleant1861 mournsome1869 thoughted1869 tragical1887 grief-stricken1905 the mind > emotion > jealousy or envy > [adjective] > envious sickOE envious1340 envyinga1382 emulous1609 invious1622 invidious1668 the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > [adjective] > languishing for or with love sickOE lovesicka1450 languishing1568 fancy-sick1600 lovelorn1637 the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > longing or yearning > [adjective] > pining sickOE pining1747 the mind > emotion > hatred > loathing or detestation > [adjective] irk1303 wlatfula1387 squeamous1398 irksome1435 fastidiousa1535 loathsome1577 out of love (with)1577 squeamish1581 loathingc1595 sick1600 distastive1611 distastefula1616 detestant1650 distasting1654 (a) OE Cynewulf Fates of Apostles 2 Ic þysne sang siðgeomor fand on seocum sefan, samnode wide hu þa æðelingas ellen cyððon, torhte ond tireadige. OE Guthlac B 1077 Min þæt leofe bearn, ne beo þu on sefan to seoc. c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) iii. met. xii. 107 He song..wiþ as myche as loue..myȝte ȝeuen hym and teche hym in his seke herte. 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 77 It will make you sicke at the heart to see it. 1611 Bible (King James) Prov. xiii. 12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sicke . View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. i. 69 Thou Iulia thou hast..Made Wit with musing, weake; hart sick with thought. View more context for this quotation 1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 6 My soul is sick, with ev'ry day's report Of wrong and outrage. a1822 P. B. Shelley Witch of Atlas xvii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 34 Liquors..whose healthful might Could medicine the sick soul to happy sleep. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlix. 72 When..the heart is sick, And all the wheels of Being slow. View more context for this quotation 1886 F. W. Robinson Courting Mary Smith vi. i She was ill at ease, and sick at heart. (b)a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Song of Sol. v. 8 If ȝe han founde my derlyng, that ȝe telle to hym, that Y am sijk [L. langueo] for loue.c1460 R. Roos tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy 53 These seke lovers I leve that to hem longes.1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. iii. 134 Boote, boote master Shallow, I know the yong King is sicke for me. View more context for this quotation1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. ii. 83 I would not be so sicke though for his place. View more context for this quotationa1637 B. Jonson Sad Shepherd i. vi. 54 in Wks. (1640) III Shee's sick o' the yong Shep'ard that bekist her. View more context for this quotation1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound ii. ii. 73 When one [nightingale].., Sick with sweet love, droops dying away.1842 Ld. Tennyson Talking Oak xviii, in Poems (new ed.) II. 68 This girl, for whom your heart is sick, Is three times worth them all.1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold i. i. 6 Sick as an autumn swallow for a voyage.(c)1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 159 If evere yit thin herte was Sek of an other mannes hele?1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 132 So euery step, Exampl'd by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, growes to an enuious feauer. View more context for this quotation1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. ii. 83 What we oft doe best, By sicke Interpreters..is Not ours, or not allow'd. View more context for this quotation(d)1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 212 I am sick, when I do looke on thee. View more context for this quotation1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. ii. 5 Any barre..will be medcinable to me, I am sicke in displeasure to him. View more context for this quotation1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci ii. i. 26 Thy milky, meek face makes me sick with hate!1860 Ld. Tennyson Sea Dreams 155 It makes me sick to quote him. b. slang. Disgusted, mortified, chagrined. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > hatred > dislike > disgust > [adjective] awlated1297 fastidiousa1535 distasted1651 disgusted1705 revolted1792 disgustful1841 sick1850 skeeved1991 1850 R. S. Surtees Soapey Sponge's Sporting Tour xlvii, in New Monthly Mag. Aug. 356 Thinking..how sick he was when the jury..gave five hundred pounds damages against him. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 28 Mar. 7/1 Those who backed the popular fancies in the winter must be feeling, in popular parlance, pretty sick. in extended use.1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 62 The sickest day for you..was the day that you came here. c. to make (a person) sick. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > hatred > object of detestation (person or thing) > be loathsome or hateful [verb] > cause someone loathing to make one's flesh creep1725 to make (a person) sick1819 1819 [see sense A. 4a]. 1860 [see sense A. 4a]. 1911 G. B. Shaw Shewing-up Blanco Posnet in Doctor's Dilemma 404 A man like you makes me sick. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xii. 228 It makes one sick to see..men sweating their guts out to dig a trench.., when some easily devised machine would scoop the earth out in a couple of minutes. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax i. 18 The Duchess lost her temper. ‘You make me sick!’ she shouted. 1978 T. Allbeury Lantern Network iii. 34 He talks like a schoolboy. All that ‘knocking the Germans for six’ stuff, it makes me sick. 5. a. Thoroughly tired or weary of a thing. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > weary of person or thing wearyc1275 sick1603 tired1672 full up1871 jack1885 1603 N. Breton Dialogue Pithe & Pleasure sig. D4 Where the sonne is sike of the father, the sister of the brother. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iii. 87 The Common-wealth is sicke of their owne Choice. 1710 Tatler No. 257. ⁋3 I was quickly sick of this tawdry Composition of Ribands, Silks and Jewels. 1797 H. Lee Canterbury Tales I. 7 Heartily sick of his host, himself, and his travels. 1842 E. Miall in Nonconformist 2 281 The world is sick of such societies. 1884 Manch. Examiner 7 May 5/4 There are plenty of Tories everywhere who are sick of the old party traditions. b. In phrases sick and tired of (cf. sick-tired adj. at Compounds 2b), sick to death of. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > weary of person or thing > extremely sick and tired ofa1813 sick to death of1890 a1813 J. H. St. J. de Crèvecoeur More Lett. from Amer. Farmer (1995) 267 I am quite sick & Tired of these pretended conscientious non fighting Mortals. 1884 B. Nye Baled Hay 124 We are sick and tired of pointing out different avenues of wealth to be laughed at and ridiculed. 1890 E. Dowson Let. c11 Sept. (1967) 166 I am sick to death of this place. 1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby ix. 205 ‘You young men think you can force your way in any time,’ she scolded. ‘We're getting sick in tired of it.’ 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 117 He was sick to death of the sound of these three crass monosyllables which he seemed always to be reiterating. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 9 July 2/6 I believe people are sick and tired of half-truths and evasions. III. Generally: mentally weak; impaired, out of condition, sickly; macabre. 6. Mentally affected or weak. Also: morbid, enjoying sick humour (see sense A. 7f). Now rare.Cf. Old English séocmód adj. in Napier Contrib. O.E. Lex. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > [adjective] sickc1340 dottlec1390 doting1489 dotish1509 feeble-minded1534 weak-brained1535 silly1568 fondish1579 lean-witted1597 soft1621 weaka1661 touched1697 muzzy-headed1798 defective1825 wanting1839 half-baked1842 dotty1860 knock-kneed1865 lean-minded1867 doddering1871 weak-minded1883 ninepence in the shilling1889 barmy1892 drippy1952 dipshit1968 the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with woodc725 woodsekc890 giddyc1000 out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000 witlessc1000 brainsickOE amadc1225 lunaticc1290 madc1330 sickc1340 brain-wooda1375 out of one's minda1387 frenetica1398 fonda1400 formada1400 unwisea1400 brainc1400 unwholec1400 alienate?a1425 brainless1434 distract of one's wits1470 madfula1475 furious1475 distract1481 fro oneself1483 beside oneself1490 beside one's patience1490 dementa1500 red-wood?1507 extraught1509 misminded1509 peevish1523 bedlam-ripe1525 straughta1529 fanatic1533 bedlama1535 daft1540 unsounda1547 stark raving (also staring) mad1548 distraughted1572 insane1575 acrazeda1577 past oneself1576 frenzy1577 poll-mad1577 out of one's senses1580 maddeda1586 frenetical1588 distempered1593 distraught1597 crazed1599 diswitted1599 idle-headed1599 lymphatical1603 extract1608 madling1608 distracteda1616 informala1616 far gone1616 crazy1617 March mada1625 non compos mentis1628 brain-crazed1632 demented1632 crack-brained1634 arreptitiousa1641 dementate1640 dementated1650 brain-crackeda1652 insaniated1652 exsensed1654 bedlam-witteda1657 lymphatic1656 mad-like1679 dementative1685 non compos1699 beside one's gravity1716 hyte1720 lymphated1727 out of one's head1733 maddened1735 swivel-eyed1758 wrong1765 brainsickly1770 fatuous1773 derangedc1790 alienated1793 shake-brained1793 crack-headed1796 flighty1802 wowf1802 doitrified1808 phrenesiac1814 bedlamite1815 mad-braineda1822 fey1823 bedlamitish1824 skire1825 beside one's wits1827 as mad as a hatter1829 crazied1842 off one's head1842 bemadded1850 loco1852 off one's nut1858 off his chump1864 unsane1867 meshuga1868 non-sane1868 loony1872 bee-headed1879 off one's onion1881 off one's base1882 (to go) off one's dot1883 locoed1885 screwy1887 off one's rocker1890 balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891 meshuggener1892 nutty1892 buggy1893 bughouse1894 off one's pannikin1894 ratty1895 off one's trolley1896 batchy1898 twisted1900 batsc1901 batty1903 dippy1903 bugs1904 dingy1904 up the (also a) pole1904 nut1906 nuts1908 nutty as a fruitcake1911 bugged1920 potty1920 cuckoo1923 nutsy1923 puggled1923 blah1924 détraqué1925 doolally1925 off one's rocket1925 puggle1925 mental1927 phooey1927 crackers1928 squirrelly1928 over the edge1929 round the bend1929 lakes1934 ding-a-ling1935 wacky1935 screwball1936 dingbats1937 Asiatic1938 parlatic1941 troppo1941 up the creek1941 screwed-up1943 bonkers1945 psychological1952 out to lunch1955 starkers1956 off (one's) squiff1960 round the twist1960 yampy1963 out of (also off) one's bird1966 out of one's skull1967 whacked out1969 batshit1971 woo-woo1971 nutso1973 out of (one's) gourd1977 wacko1977 off one's meds1986 c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 772 Þan waxes his gaste seke and sare, And his face rouncles. 1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Dj Some men are so sicke in their braine, that thei are neuer wise. 1692 S. Patrick Answer to Touchstone of Reformed Gospel 223 If they are not sick in their wits. 1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna v. xxvii. 106 It was a tone Such as sick fancies in a new made grave Might hear. 1961 Times 17 July 14/5 Mr. Sahl is disapproving of the so-called ‘sick’ comedians of America. 1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. at Sick¹ A sick personality. 1962 Listener 25 Oct. 692/3 From Korea James Mossman reported on the Panmunjom truce-line (a raree-show for tourists these days, I gather: how sick can people get?). 1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence 45 Don't mind them, honey! They're the sickest bunch of people you ever saw. 7. a. Of things: Out of condition in some respect; corrupted or spoiled; spec. of wine which has become turbid, or of quicksilver (see quot. 1875). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] undisposedc1380 sicka1425 shrewdc1430 crazy1583 unsound1617 vitiated1620 depravate1665 depraveda1807 sickly1826 the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective] blackOE rotea1382 lousyc1386 unwashed?a1390 fulsomec1390 filthy?c1400 rankc1400 leprousa1425 sicka1425 miry1532 shitten?1545 murrain1575 obscene1597 vicious1597 ketty1607 putrid1628 putredinous1641 foede1657 fulsamic1694 carrion1826 foul1842 shitty1879 scabrous1880 scummy1932 pukey1933 shitting1950 gungy1962 grungy1965 shithouse1966 grot1967 bogging1973 a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Isa. xxiv. 7 Vyndage morenyde, the vyne is sijk [L. infirmata]. c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 939 Thy tre is seek, oyldregges water mynge [etc.]. a1470 Dives & Pauper (W. de W.) vii. x. 290/1 Yf a man or woman selle a seke thynge for an hole thynge wyttyngly to begyle the byer, he doth theeft. a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 125 Ȝiff swete wyne be seeke or pallid, put in a Rompney for lesynge. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. ii. 153 The seik ground denyis his fruite and fudis. 1669 W. Charleton Mysterie of Vintners in Two Disc. 159 Renish [wine]..commonly grows sick in June, if not rack'd. 1684 J. Evelyn Diary 4 Feb. The oranges and mirtills very sick, the rosemary and laurells dead to all appearance. 1697 T. Tryon Way to Health (ed. 3) xv. 369 A Medicine of a loathing Quality, and far Sicker in Nature than the distempered Patient. 1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) III. 208 If the Wort is sick, it cannot fail of communicating its unwholesome Quality to the Blood. 1817 in Trans. Ill. State Hist. Soc. 1910 (1912) 147 Sick Milk, Sick Wheat, a plenty of Ague near the large streams. 1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. i, in Lamia & Other Poems 156 Instead of sweets, his ample palate took Savour of poisonous brass and metal sick. 1847 H. Howe Hist. Coll. Ohio 274 Those lands were too sick for wheat, making ‘sick’ wheat, so termed, because when made into bread, it had the effect of an emetic. 1868 H. C. R. Johnson Long Vac. Argentine Alps 103 The people very generally drink the wine new, the year after it is made—just as likely it is sick. 1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 696 The quicksilver constantly became ‘sick’,..and lost apparently all its natural affinity for gold. 1892 Longman's Mag. Nov. 83 Should the hot and dry weather long continue, a curious phenomenon takes place. The mere is said to be ‘sick’; that the eels are so there can be no doubt. 1915 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1914 672 The fertility of this ‘sick’ soil can be restored by merely heating it for an hour or two to a temperature approaching that of boiling water. 1921 Brit. Mus. Return 74 in Parl. Papers XXVII. 651 The treatment and cleaning of sick and dirty coins. 1930 Notes & Queries 16 Aug. 124/2 A cheese..is sick when it has been over soured or over acidulated, and in time ‘weeps’, gradually becoming soft inside. 1947 I. L. Idriess Isles of Despair xvi. 106 Some roots are ‘sick’, eaten through and through by boring insects. 1965 Listener 2 Sept. 358/1 Soils can be said to be ‘potato sick’, ‘rose sick’, ‘flax sick’, etc. figurative.1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice v. i. 124 This night me thinks is but the day light sicke . View more context for this quotation1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 103 O when degree is shakt,..The enterprise is sick . View more context for this quotation1781 W. Cowper Retirem. 738 A sepulchre..Where all good qualities grow sick and die.1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 111 When the sick system dies, the public will see the full amount..they have to suffer for their credulity.1931 H. Crane Let. 13 June (1965) 371 As for Mexico..you were right, it's a sick country.1959 Washington Post 18 Nov. a 16/2 Some czars in the labor movement will scream over this resort to the courts to straighten out so-called internal affairs of sick unions, but for racket-harassed workers it is an event of the first importance.1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 2 Feb. 4 He has taken other sick businesses and has done a marvelous job with them.1973 Black Panther 14 July 6/2 I was basically looking at myself..people of my complexion struggling for their liberation. I saw how sick conditions were.1976 J. R. Smythies & L. Corbett Psychiatry Students of Med. iii. 29 Concepts like a ‘sick’ society have become commonplace. b. Said of the young and ungrown feathers of a bird in moulting-time. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > feather > [adjective] > having particular kind of > of particular kind > ungrown or young sick1589 pinned1665 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. 222 These fowles in their moulting time, when their feathers be sick. 1592 R. Greene Disput. Conny-catcher sig. D2^v I see the fayrest Hawke hath oftentimes the sickkest feathers. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. v. 187 If a Seraphim himself should be a Bishop, he would either finde or make some sick feathers in his wings. 1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 101 A dove..with sick unpruned wing. c. Of fish, etc.: in the spawning stage. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [adjective] > relating to laying of eggs > spawning spawning1579 sick1728 spawny1908 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Herring The shotten and sick Herrings by themselves; the Barrel whereof is to be mark'd distinctly. 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 107/1 The mass of ova..is spoken of by oyster fishers as ‘white spat’, and an oyster containing them is said to be ‘sick’. d. Nautical. Requiring repairs.More common in combinations as iron-sick adj., nail-sick adj. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [adjective] > not seaworthy or unstable walt1539 crank-sided1626 crank1696 walty1702 over-floaty1705 lopsided1711 tender1723 innavigable1755 unseaworthy1820 sick1854 cranky1861 1854 E. S. Sheppard Counterparts I. 7 And the Shelley, she lays down at X, sick of paint. 1893 A. H. Alston & T. P. Walker Seamanship (ed. 3) 55 Sick Seams.—Are those in which the stitches are worn, and give way here and there. e. Stock Market. Slow, dull. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market sensitive1813 bearish1827 light1827 quiet1833 easy1836 soft1849 weak1856 steady1857 buoyant1868 sick1870 swimming1870 featureless1879 bullish1882 firm1887 gravelly1887 technical1889 pippy1892 manipulated1903 thin1931 volatile1931 trendless1939 nervous1955 toppy1961 over-bullish1970 toppish1983 1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 137 A Sick market; the market is Ill. When brokers very generally hesitate to buy. 1880 Daily News 13 Dec. 3/5 The [wool] market has been somewhat sick. 1904 Daily Chron. 22 Mar. 2/5 Kaffir shares were again rather sick, and closed lower. f. colloquial. Of humour, a joke, etc.: macabre, providing amusement by reference to something that is thoroughly unpleasant. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective] > enjoying sick humour sick1959 the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adjective] > enjoying unpleasant humour sick1959 the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > [adjective] > humorous or jesting > other qualities of jests or humour unwormwooded1628 ledger1655 canny1874 heavy-handed1910 off-colour1915 Dad and Dave1935 sick1959 observational1981 1959 Punch 2 Sept. 106/1 The prototype of sick jokes is one that goes ‘But apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?’ 1959 Guardian 16 Oct. 10/3 Feiffer..belongs..to the new American fashion of sick humour... Like those gifted sick comedians Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce..he is able to go straight to the springs of derision and aggression where so much humour begins. 1959 Washington Post 26 Nov. d 22/1 ‘Sick comedy,’ defines Berman carefully, ‘is comic material which violates what we regard as the limits of sensitivity—poking fun at a cripple..or kidding a typhoon that killed thousands.’ 1960 Guardian 7 Oct. 15/3 Jules Feiffer, regarded as one of the ‘sick’ school of cartoonists, is not as sick as all that... No one is sicker than Charles Addams. 1961 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 84/2 To enjoy..the sick joke..you have to..swallow jokes about cancer, corruption, homosexuality, third degree, race prejudice and insanity. 1965 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1035/4 This has been a time of sick laughter. 1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xvii. 164 How long exactly does it take to become a bomb-disposal expert? And don't tell me that you learn by your mistakes because I'm not in the mood for sick jokes. 1975 P. Fussell Great War & Mod. Mem. vi. 228 There is extant a postwar version of such a record [of battle],..aimed at what today might be called the Sick Nostalgia Market. 1978 D. Devine Sunk without Trace xxv. 226 ‘How does it feel..to be back in the bosom of your family?’ Judy said sharply: ‘I'm not in the mood for sick jokes.’ 8. Of a sickly hue; pale, wan. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [adjective] > pale blackeOE blokec1200 blakec1275 fadec1290 bleykea1300 palisha1398 wanned1494 ashy?1541 wearish-coloured1548 wanny1555 wheyish1560 bleak1566 paly1568 ghastly1574 blankish1580 sick1599 palled1601 ashied1613 lurid1656 lunar1742 wax-like1748 ashen1808 unbrightened1827 waxy1835 peely-wally1895 waxen-hued1916 1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 50 Be not her maide since she is enuious, Her vestall liuery is but sicke and greene. View more context for this quotation a1822 P. B. Shelley Triumph of Life in Posthumous Poems (1824) 91 A light of heaven, whose half-extinguished beam Through the sick day..Glimmers. 1845 J. C. Mangan Anthologia Germanica I. 139 Out, out, sick light! Out, flickering taper! 9. Accompanied by illness or sickness; denoting sickness. Cf. sick headache n. at Compounds 3. Also in figurative contexts. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] morbous?a1425 unsoundc1540 naughty1572 sick1597 sicklya1616 morbifica1691 morbose1692 ill-conditioned1700 morbid1748 pathic1846 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. ii. 84 Now comes the sicke houre that his surfet made. View more context for this quotation 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rom. ii. 19) So spending thy time in a still dream, but thou shalt have sick waking. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso 273 I did first exactly consider the body of the State of Rome in its sick condition. 1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. xviii. 159 They dread A sick Debauch and aching Head. 1827 T. Carlyle E. T. W. Hoffmann in German Romance II. 176 Seventeen sick and pitiable years, before death put a period to her sufferings. 1889 C. Smith Repentance Paul Wentworth III. 297 A sick despair was at his heart. B. n. 1. absol. as plural. Those who, such as, are suffering from illness. ΚΠ α. c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 18 Ofer seoce hi hyra handa settað & hi beoð hale. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 37 To seke gan and þa deden helpen to buriene. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 245 Sum help..tolechne wið þe secke. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 265 Ther is phisique for the seke. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14078 Giueand mani seke þair hele. a1450 J. Myrc Instr. to Par. Priests 1841 When þow schalt to seke gon, Hye þe faste. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 95 b/2 He comanded that the feble and seke shold be sette aparte by them self. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 90 To restore to thair health seik and waik. β. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFFvii Visityng the sicke, comfortyng the prisoner.1592 J. Lyly Gallathea i. i. sig. B2^v It's hard for the sicke to followe wholesome counsaile.1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 218 The sicke of the dropsie augment their thirst in drinking.1681 P. Bellon tr. F. de Monginot New Myst. Physick 49 Supposing that the Sick are duly prepared.1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson iii. i. 293 Fresh provisions were distributed amongst the sick.1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 224 The sick were so numerous that it became necessary to call in..a nurse.1888 H. Morten Sketches Hosp. Life 49 Her friends were the sick and suffering.γ. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 26 Þencheð vpoðe..seke & þe sarie inoure heorte.c1250 Kent. Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 28 Uisiti þe poure and to sike.a1300 Assump. Virg. (Cambr.) 63 Poure and sike he dude god, And seruede hem.1340 Ayenb. 267 Ich y-zeȝ..þe tribz..of poure, and of zyke.1404–8 26 Pol. Poems vi. 39 Fede non hungry, ne cloþe no bare;..Visite no syke.c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 254 To haue compassioun on alle syke & sory. 2. A person suffering from illness. ? Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > sick person > [noun] sickc888 lazar1340 sickmanc1340 laborant?a1425 suffererc1450 malade1483 patient1484 lazar-man1552 languisher1599 ruina1616 plaintiff1633 valetudinarist1651 valetudinaire?c1682 valetudinarian1703 invalid1709 infirm1711 invaletudinarian1762 valetudinary1785 complainant1861 aegrotant1865 degenerate1895 c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxviii. §7 Swa swa se sioca ah þearfe þæt hine mon læde to þæm læce. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8841 Ne ræche ich nane garsume... ah ælche seocken ich hit do for luue of mine Drihtene. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8060 To se þat seke a turn he made, In sekenes sar he fand him stad. 1412 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. 3627 A medicine Availeth nat, whan þe seke is ded. c1480 (a1400) St. Bartholomew 90 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 182 With þat wourd..þe seke wes heylit of his care. a1500 (?c1450) Merlin iii. 52 Plese it yow to axe of youre devynour, yef this seke shall euer be hoill of this sekenesse. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. ix. f. xj Then sayd he vnto the sicke of the palsey. 1789 M. Underwood Treat. Dis. Children (rev. ed.) I. 280 In which interval the sick passes a high-coloured urine. 3. a. A disease or illness (obsolete); a fit of sickness; a sickening. rare except in to give (a person) the sick, to nauseate, to disgust.It is doubtful whether even the older examples have any direct connection with such forms as Gothic siukei, Old High German siuhhî (German seuche, sieche), Icelandic sýki, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] soreOE cothec1000 sicknessc1000 evilc1275 maladyc1275 grievance1377 passiona1382 infirmityc1384 mischiefa1387 affectiona1398 grievinga1398 grief1398 sicka1400 case?a1425 plaguec1425 diseasea1475 alteration1533 craze1534 uncome1538 impediment1542 affliction?1555 ailment1606 disaster1614 garget1615 morbus1630 ail1648 disaffect1683 disorder1690 illness1692 trouble1726 complaint1727 skookum1838 claim1898 itis1909 bug1918 wog1925 crud1932 bot1937 lurgy1947 Korean haemorrhagic fever1951 nadger1956 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > bout or attack of onfalleOE cothec1000 bitc1175 accessc1300 attacha1400 shota1400 swalma1400 storm1540 excess?1541 accession1565 qualm1565 oncome1570 grasha1610 attachment1625 ingruence1635 turn1653 attack1665 fit1667 surprise1670 drow1727 tossa1732 irruption1732 sick1808 tout1808 whither1808 spell1856 go1867 whip1891 a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 14147 Þe seke him saris fra heued to fote. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10407 Þai..Wit-vten want has alle þair wis, Wit-vten seke, wit-vten sare. 1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Sick, sickness, a fit of sickness; as, ‘The sick's na aff him’. 1849 Sessions Paper 26 Nov. 5 If I have many such markets as this, it will give me the sick. 1897 W. S. Maugham Liza of Lambeth i This is too bloomin' slow, it gives me the sick. 1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air iv. v. 257 As for the picturesqueness,..it merely gives me the sick. 1960 Spectator 11 Nov. 751 Rackham and all give me the sick. b. colloquial. on the sick, incapacitated by illness, receiving sickness benefit. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > restrained by ill health bedridc1000 bedridden1340 bedlarc1440 bedrel1513 bed-sickc1550 clinica1631 bedfasta1639 non-surrective1668 decumbent1689 invalided1837 laid1868 to lay aside1879 wheelchaired1938 on the sick1976 1976 News of World 14 Mar. 11/2 My Dad used to be on the sick for a long time and couldn't work. 1976 Par Golf Aug. 39/3 I didn't realise this would get in the papers. It could cost me my job. I'm on the sick. 1976 L. Thomas Dangerous Davies vii. 68 I took it [sc. an allotment] on..but then I was on the sick for months..and the council..takes it off me. 4. Vomited matter. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > vomiting > vomit spewingc1380 vomea1382 vomitc1390 voment1482 parbreak1590 vomiture1598 spew1609 puke1705 vomiting1716 vomitus1904 throw-up1918 sick1959 1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren ix. 162 Spread it on the butty nice and thick, Swallow it down with a bucket of sick. 1966 Listener 3 Nov. 651/3 Middle-aged Chelsea ladies are crawling about in each other's sick. 1977 Listener 3 Mar. 282/4 There's blood on the windscreen, sick on the trousers. Compounds C1. (Chiefly from the absolute or substantival use: see sense B.) a. Appropriated or given up to, occupied by, one or more persons in a state of illness. See also sickbed n., sick-house n., sickroom n.Cf. older Flemish sieckkamer, -stoel (Kilian), German siechkammer, -stube, -zimmer, Swedish sjukstuga, -säng. sick-bay n. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital ship > part of ship used as hospital sick-bay1813 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 465 The temporary sick~bay, in which they had been heretofore, being pulled down. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. Sick-bay, a place set apart in a ship for invalids or wounded men. 1919 W. Lang Sea-lawyer's Log i. 6 Then our guide, a Leading Seaman,..conducted us to the doctor's quarters—or ‘sick bay’, as he expressed it. 1971 P. D. James Shroud for Nightingale iii. 60 She's in the sick bay... It's part of the private wing. sick-berth n. ΚΠ 1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 284 We offer the plan of a Sick Berth, which is to be considered as the hospital of a ship of the line. 1863 A. Young Naut. Dict. (ed. 2) Sick-berth attendant, formerly termed Lob~lolly Boy; in a ship of war, a person who attends the surgeon and his assistants. sick-bungalow n. ΚΠ 1844 J. H. Stocqueler Hand-bk. India 455 At Almorah there are five bungalows, called sick bungalows, belonging to government. sick-bunk n. ΚΠ 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvii. 200 Nearly all our party..were tossing in their sick-bunks. sick-chamber n. ΚΠ 1825 W. Scott Betrothed xi, in Tales Crusaders II. 201 Margorie, whose element was a sick-chamber. 1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. xii. 431 The grief or anxiety of a sick chamber. sick-couch n. ΚΠ 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. 265 The sick Couch is preparing, with all the dismal Apparatus,..for Agonies and Death. 1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna iv. v. 77 That gentle Hermit..By my sick couch was busy to and fro. sick-station n. ΚΠ 1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xviii. 187 I had carried Mr. Goodfellow to the sick-station with my dog-sledge. sick tent n. ΚΠ 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. ii. 132 We set up a..copper-oven on shore near the sick tents. sick-ward n. ΚΠ 1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues (new ed.) The sick-ward of an hospitall, la maladerie. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 491 The efficacy of these vapours in destroying the offensive smells which occur in sick-wards. b. Of or pertaining to, or connected with, persons suffering from illness. sick-allowance n. ΚΠ 1863 G. O. Trevelyan Lett. from Competition Wallah vii, in Macmillan's Mag. Dec. 131/1 His first ideas..run in the line of sick-leave and sick-allowances. sick-benefit n. ΚΠ 1909 Chambers's Jrnl. 26 Dec. 56/2 Members who..may have received sick-benefit. 1952 Oxf. Junior Encycl. X. 171/1 Under the 1911 National Health Act certain registered friendly societies, known as ‘approved societies’, were used by the Government as part of the health scheme to pay out as ‘sick benefit’ sums of money provided by the Government... But after the National Insurance Act of 1946 this use of friendly societies by the Government was discontinued. sick-book n. ΚΠ 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-book, an account of such officers and men as are on the sick list on board, or are sent to an hospital, hospital-ship, or sick-quarters. sick-club n. ΚΠ 1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 220/1 There are no trade-societies among the working men, no benefit nor sick clubs. sick cookery n. ΚΠ 1871 G. H. Napheys Prevention & Cure Dis. ii. iii. 489 Sick-cookery should more than half do the work of the poor patient's weak digestion. sick-dish n. ΚΠ 1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 137 This is my sick Dish; when I am well, I'll have a bigger. sick-flag n. ΚΠ 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-flag, the yellow quarantine flag. sick-fund n. ΚΠ 1849 F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers v. 53 A portion of the proceeds being handed over to the sick-fund for persons..hurt in the service. sick-insurance n. ΚΠ 1899 Month May 462 To master the principles of sick-insurance. sick-leave n. ΚΠ 1840 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 179 He would use all interest to get home on sick leave. 1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xxix. 231 He'll be home on sick leave.., the doctor says. 1976 Times 8 Mar. 12/8 Staff are entitled to paid sick leave only if there is a reasonable prospect of their return to duty. sick-mess n. ΚΠ 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-mess, a table for those on the doctor's list. † sick-mistress n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ c1660 in J. Morris Troubles Catholic Forefathers (1872) (modernized text) 1st Ser. vi. 277 The Cellaress and Sick Mistress..remained there. † sick-nightcap n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1739 T. Herring in J. Duncombe Lett. Several Eminent Persons Deceased (1773) II. 135 A woman, in a sick night-cap hanging over the stairs. sick-pay n. ΚΠ 1887 Spectator 15 Oct. 1385 A member of a Benefit Society is not allowed, when receiving sick-pay, to put his hand to a stroke of work. sick-rate n. ΚΠ 1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 953 A low temperature is always accompanied by a decrease in the sick-rate. † sick service n. Obsolete rare ΚΠ a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. i. 52 But you, at your sicke seruice had a Prince. View more context for this quotation sick-ticket n. ΚΠ 1802 E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 37 Discharged with a sick ticket to go home. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sick-ticket, a document given to an officer, seaman, or marine, when sent to an hospital. sick-time n. ΚΠ 1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire II. v. iv. 584 In like manner the sick time [1839 sick-time] is augmented principally by the attacks. C2. a. sick-brained adj. ΚΠ 1658 2nd Narr. Parl. in Harl. Misc. (1809) III. 474 Whether the protector, and the great men his confederates, be not rather to be termed fanatick, whimsical, and sick-brained, than those who [etc.]. sick-feathered adj. ΚΠ 1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 107 The latter brood,..Sick-feather'd, and unpractis'd in the sky. sick-hearted adj. ΚΠ a1835 F. D. Hemans Mother, oh! Sing me to Rest in Poet. Wks. (1836) 210/2 Sing to thy child, the sick-hearted, Songs of a spirit oppress'd. sick-thoughted adj. ΚΠ 1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. B Sick-thoughted Venus makes amaine vnto him. View more context for this quotation 1631 F. Quarles Hist. Samson viii From his loathed Bed, Sicke-thoughted Samson rose. b. sick-fallen adj. ΚΠ a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. iii. 154 And vast confusion waites As doth a Rauen on a sicke-falne beast. View more context for this quotation sick-pale adj. ΚΠ 1810 G. Crabbe Borough xx. 280 She and that sick-pale Brother. sick-sweet adj. ΚΠ 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 429 The odour of the sicksweet [printed sicksewet] weed floats towards him. sick-tired adj. ΚΠ 1861 J. Barr Poems 11 I'm sick tired o' a bachelor life. 1896 Harper's Mag. Apr. 742/2 Gordon was sick-tired of journalistic chatter. c. sick-making adj. and n. ΚΠ 1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies i. 7 Sometimes the ship pitched and sometimes she rolled... ‘Too, too sick~making,’ said Miss Runcible, with one of her rare flashes of accuracy. 1938 D. Thomas Let. c6 July in Sel. Lett. (1966) 203 There will be speechmaking, drunkmaking, sickmaking and we must all dress up. 1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate i. vi. 59 I'm in a terrible do about my [stolen] bracelet of lucky charms—no value to anybody else—really—too too sick-making. 1976 I. Illich Limits to Med. 7 What has turned health care into a sick-making enterprise is the very intensity of an engineering endeavour. 1978 Times 5 Oct. 2/4 What is sickmaking is the IBA..trying to make the BBC out as the monster and them the viewers' guardian. d. (in nouns, used attributive) sick-child n. ΚΠ 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance I. xxvii. 302 In a soft, whining, sick-child sort of voice. sick-heart n. ΚΠ 1875 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids xii. 850 Sick-heart men. C3. sick-bag n. a bag provided in aircraft, ships, etc., as a receptacle for vomit. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > other medical equipment > [noun] > vessels > receiving vessels hornc1000 urinalc1300 urinal-glass1651 receiver1767 urine-glass1880 Vacutainer1946 sick-bag1962 vomit bag1975 sample bottle1977 1962 W. Schirra in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 33 On the plane, John Glenn and Al Shepard took one of the brown paper ‘sick~bags’ and scribbled on it: ‘Here is the answer to the air sickness problem.’ 1976 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vi. 71 The accustomed routine with Kleenex and sick bags..and barley sugar. sick call n. (a) (originally and chiefly Military), a call sounded to summon those reporting sick to a place of treatment; an assembly for medical treatment; (b) a visit made to a sick person; (c) a summons to visit a sick person. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > [noun] > call summoning for treatment sick call1836 society > leisure > social event > visit > [noun] > to sick or distressed persons visit1709 sick call1976 society > leisure > social event > visit > visiting > [noun] > of sick > summons to sick call1978 1836 J. Hildreth Dragoon Campaigns Rocky Mts. 114 Every morning..‘sick call’ blows. 1850 E. Price (title) Sick calls: from the diary of a missionary priest. 1883 M. E. Herbert tr. Life St. John Baptist de Rossi iii. iv. 147 The servants never again dared to fail to warn him of any sick call. 1908 E. C. Booth Cliff End v. 37 You can be almost sure of catching me,..without there be sick calls. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms Sick Call, a signal on the bugle or drum and fife for the formation of the sick squads. 1930 F. A. Pottle Stretchers 31 Sick call is blown before the dispensary door. 1931 P. J. Joyce John Healy ii. 37 That imperious, unmistakable sick-call knock. 1945 Yank 13 July 19/2 A punitive measure to discourage falling out for sick call. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 27 June 1- b/4 There is a daily sick call by a local doctor for the inmates. 1977 New Yorker 24 Oct. 106/2 A third way for an inmate to see a doctor is to go to sick call, which is held each weekday morning at Green Haven on the first floor of the Hospital-Segregation Building. 1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends iv. ii. 389 I was a young priest at the time, see, and I get this sick-call. sick communion n. an administration of Holy Communion to a sick person. ΚΠ 1930 S. Kaye-Smith Shepherds in Sackcloth vii. § 11 Will you tell me..how many sick Communions you have weekly? sick-feeder n. a vessel resembling a cup for feeding invalids. ΚΠ 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 1316 Sick Feeders. sick headache n. = migraine n.; also in phrases as a type of something useless or unhelpful. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > pain in specific parts > [noun] > in head > migraine demigranec1400 megrim1440 emigrane1483 hemicrane?1550 hemicrania1657 migraine1777 sick headache1784 brow-ague1855 the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > [noun] > that which is useless > typically sick headache1915 a hole in the head1951 1784 Fothergill in Med. Observ. & Inquiries VI. 103 Remarks on that Complaint commonly known under the Name of the Sick Head-ach. 1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 286 A dissertation on the sick head-ach,..by Dr. Nathaniel Dwight. 1857 M. O. Colt Jrnl. 18 May (1862) xii. 218 I..was obliged..to..stay two nights and one day, suffering with a sick headache. 1884 ‘Ouida’ Princess Napraxine (1886) i. 5 No doubt, it is utterly wrong, and would give him a sick headache. 1915 D. O. Barnett Let. in In Happy Memory 153 Shrapnel is for defenders, to stop an advance of infantry, but no more use against prepared positions than a sick headache. 1977 ‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xii. 252 That pair in the back, between them, are about as much use as a sick headache. sick parade n. Military an inspection of those who are ill; the people on sick parade. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > patient > [noun] > collectively > military sick parade1915 1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand xi. 137 M'Splae departs, grumbling, and reappears on sick parade a few days later. 1925 E. F. Norton in E. F. Norton et al. Fight for Everest: 1924 47 He took the daily sick parade, and had an equally unerring eye for a malingerer or for the stout heart that made light of a genuine ailment. 1927 R. H. Mottram Spanish Farm Trilogy 258 Do you know what a sick parade I've got? Eighty! Yes, I have. 1966 Times 9 July 9/7 Command Orders say... Sick Parade has now become ‘sick list’. sick visiting n. (see quot. 1933). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > social event > visit > visiting > [noun] > of sick sick visiting1933 1933 N.E.D. Suppl. at Sick 10 b Sick visiting, the visiting of the sick, esp. by a minister of religion. 1960 N. Nicholson William Cowper 13 A most exacting life of piety, prayer-meetings, self-denial, and sick-visiting. 1977 West Briton 25 Aug. 11/1 He paid tribute to Mr. Clay's work, especially his sick visiting. Draft additions August 2004 slang (now esp. Skateboarding and Surfing). Excellent, impressive; risky. ΚΠ 1983 UNC-CH Campus Slang (Univ. N. Carolina, Chapel Hill) (typescript) Spring 5 Sick, unbelievably good: The Fleetwood Mac concert was sick. 1992 Caribbean Week Apr. 26/1 ‘A really sick car’ is an attractive, eye-catching vehicle and not one that's ready for the repair shop. 1997 BMX Plus! Apr. 56 (caption) Jeff Harrington has some of the sickest jumping variations we have ever seen. 2002 U.S. News & World Rep. 21 Jan. 63/1 ‘That's siiiick!’ gushes an admiring fan. Draft additions May 2001 sick building n. a building, typically a large, older, relatively poorly maintained office building, in which occupants report an increased incidence of non-specific upper respiratory and other symptoms (sick building syndrome), which have been attributed to factors such as temperature, humidity, indoor air pollutants, noise levels, and visual display units; also in extended use. ΚΠ 1983 Progressive Archit. Mar. 143/1 To the degree that buildings have always developed problems, there have always been people concerned with healing, or at least treating the symptoms of, ‘sick’ buildings. 1987 Washington Business Jrnl. 6 July 21 Within these potentially infested, or ‘sick’ buildings, occupants often have hints of trouble right under their noses. 1996 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 14 Sept. Several risk factors..have been identified from a large number of studies on the epidemiology of the syndrome and investigations of ‘sick’ buildings. 1997 GQ Sept. 147/2 Stein viewed Scottish football as a sick building where it was difficult to stay ‘without catching some of the disease’. Draft additions May 2001 sick building syndrome n. a syndrome of uncertain aetiology consisting of non-specific, mild upper respiratory symptoms (stuffy nose, itchy eyes, sore throat), headache and fatigue, experienced by occupants of ‘sick buildings’; (also) the environmental conditions existing in such a building; abbreviated SBS (cf. tight building syndrome n. at tight adj., adv., and n.² Additions). ΚΠ 1983 Industry Week 2 May 45/2 We're seeing more and more large, centrally ventilated buildings that suffer from the sick-building syndrome. 1985 Company Dec. 34/2 Sick building syndrome is relatively new to doctors, but increasing numbers of people are suffering headaches, breathing and nasal problems as a result of faulty air conditioning, poor lighting and extra heat given out by computer systems. 1996 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 14 Sept. Risk factors for sick building syndrome:..sedentary occupation, clerical work..low ceilings..low supply rate of outdoor air..damp areas and mould growth..dust, solvents, and ozone emissions from printers and photocopiers.., low frequency noise [etc.]. 1999 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 9 Nov. 49/6 With additional concerns of sick building syndrome at Cedar Hill, rising from complaints of a ‘rotten egg’ smell in a bathroom, the district also hired environmental health experts to evaluate overall health conditions at the school. Draft additions June 2007 sick puppy n. originally and chiefly U.S. (a) colloquial a very ill person; (b) slang an abnormal, deviant, or deranged person. ΚΠ 1948 S. Spewack Busy Busy People xi. 121 ‘I'm sick,’ said Brell... But Pop merely chuckled. ‘Poor little sick puppy.’ 1960 M. Davenport Constant Image xiv. 203 He's given her a shot of something to calm her stomach. She really is much better, but she was a sick puppy this morning. 1982 Boston Globe 3 Sept. 24/1 Dismissing..Burke..as ‘a sick puppy’. 2003 P. Reed One 8 We think you're a sick puppy, mister. Draft additions June 2016 sick note n. a note confirming a person's absence from work, school, etc., due to illness, esp. a formal certificate signed by a doctor for an employer. ΚΠ 1836 Central Criminal Court: Minutes of Evid. 3 672 I was absent from duty on the 27th—I had been unwell, and was absent four or five days by a sick note. 1877 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 28 Feb. 3/3 There was a very great difficulty in getting these sick notes signed by the surgeons of regiments. 1982 O. Clark Diary 23 Feb. (1998) 115 Ordered to bed for a week and given a sick note. 2010 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 340 1303/2 She telephoned the surgery asking for a sick note as she was unable to get to work. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2022). sickv.¹ Forms: Middle English seocan, Middle English seke, Middle English cekyn, seeke(n; Middle English sijken, Middle English syken, sike, syk; 1500s– sick (1600s sicke). Etymology: < sick adj. Compare Frisian siikje, Middle Dutch sieken (Dutch zieken), Middle Low German sêken, sûken (Low German sîken, su̇ken), Old High German siuhhan, -ên, -ôn (Middle High German and German siechen), Old Norse sjúkask (reflexive), Gothic siukan. †1. To suffer illness; to fall ill, sicken. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] sicka1150 langernc1440 aila1500 peak1580 languisha1616 suffer1800 underfunction1941 the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > fall ill sicklec1000 sicka1150 sickenc1175 evil1303 mislike?1440 fall1526 to take a conceit1543 to fall down?1571 to lay upa1616 to run of (or on) a garget1615 craze1658 invalid1829 wreck1876 collapse1879 to go sick1879 to sicken for1883 a1150 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen 117 25 Languet, seocet. 1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 2 Kings xiii. 14 Helise forsothe sijkide in sijknesse. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11816 Þat caitif vn-meth and vn-meke Nu bigines he to seke. c1400 Brut cxxviii. 303 Þat he þat siked þis day, deid on þe iij. day after. c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 65 Cekyn or wexe seke, infirmor. 1594 G. Peele Battell of Alcazar i. ii To sick as Envy at Cecropia's gate, And pine with thought and terror of mishaps. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. iii. 128 A little time before That our great grandsire Edward, sickt and died. 2. transitive. To cause to sicken; to make ill. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > cause to be ill [verb (transitive)] sicka1340 distemperc1380 to bring low1530 distemperate1547 unsound1560 sicken1694 qualm1733 sicklify1851 a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxvi. 4 Myn enemys þat angirs me, þei are sekid & doun fell. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14147 Þe sare him sekes fra hede to fote. 1637 T. Heywood Pleasant Dialogues & Dramma's 185 His piercing beams I never shall endure, They sicke me of a fatall Calenture. 1909 J. Masefield Trag. Nan iii, in Trag. Nan & Other Plays 64 You talk rude to the quality... Talk as'd sick a savage. 3. intransitive. To act as a sick-nurse.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > art or science of medicine > practice of healing art > practise the healing art [verb (intransitive)] > tend the sick sick1843 nurse1859 nurse-tend1863 sick-nurse1897 1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxv. 306 Whether I sicks or monthlies, ma'am, I hope I does my duty. 4. transitive and intransitive. To vomit, to spew up. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (intransitive)] > vomit spewc897 vomea1382 brake1393 perbreak?a1400 castc1440 envomish1480 parbreak1495 vomita1500 to cast the crawa1529 to cast (up), heave, spue up, vomit one's gorgea1529 galpa1535 to cast out1561 puke1586 purge1596 void1605 to jerk, shoot, whip the cat1609 rid1647 to flay the fox1653 posset1781 to shoot the cat1785 to throw up1793 throw1804 cascade1805 reject1822 yark1867 sick1924 to toss (also shoot, blow, etc.) one's cookies1927 to lose a dinner (or a meal)1941 to spew one's ring1949 chunder1950 barf1960 upchuck1960 yuck1963 ralph1966 to go for the big spit1967 vom1991 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (transitive)] > vomit spew971 aspewc1200 to gulch out?c1225 casta1300 vomea1382 brake1393 evacuec1400 to cast outa1425 deliver?a1425 voida1425 evomec1450 evomit?a1475 disgorge1477 to cast up1483 degorge1493 vomish1536 retch1538 parbreak1540 reject1540 vomit1541 evacuate1542 revomit1545 belch1558 vomit1560 to lay up1570 upvomit1582 to fetch up1599 puke1601 respew1606 inbelch1610 spew1610 to throw up1614 exgurgitate1623 out-spew1647 egurgitate1656 to throw off1660 to bring up1719 pick1828 sick1924 yark1927 barf1960 to park the tiger1970 vom1991 1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea xix. 333 The volcano started in sicking up red-hot pitch and all. 1930 R. Kipling Thy Servant a Dog 25 I have ate grass and sicked up. 1930 Dial. Notes 6 83 [Child loq.] I sicked all over my yew dress. 1937 L. A. G. Strong Swift Shadow 209 But the snow do turn my stomach and I sicked in the hedge. 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway 162 It can't do me any good if I sick it all up. 1954 ‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom vii. 100 I can't go sicking it all up to the police. 1966 C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush xiii. 188 On the way the reptile sicked up another hen, and half-way it regurgitated a third hen on the floor of my vehicle. 1975 Times 16 Jan. 18/3 A planeload of passengers sicking their breakfast. 1980 Sunday Tel. 21 Dec. (Colour Suppl.) 11/3 She sings Away in a Manger..and drinks lots of drinks and then she sicks up. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online December 2020). sickv.² Brit. /sɪk/, U.S. /sɪk/ Forms: Also sic. Etymology: dialect variant of seek v. 1. transitive. Of a dog: To set upon, attack (an animal). Chiefly in imperative. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > attack (of animal) to venture on (also uponc1528 bait1570 to go at ——1675 tack1720 to go for ——1838 sick1845 aggress1882 the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [verb (transitive)] > act in particular way sowla1616 wave1677 sick1845 snoozle1847 heel1855 sool1890 1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Capt. Simon Suggs 154 Sick him Pomp,..sick, sick, si-c-k him Bull. 1890 Golden Days (Philadelphia) 6 Sept. ‘Sic 'em, Andy!’ screamed Granny... The growls and snarls of the fighting animals..made a terrific din. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 19 Sept. 8/2 ‘Sick 'un then’. Now ‘sicking’ a hedgehog is a job which few dogs care to tackle. 1933 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Rebel i. 14 The small white dog, evidently mistaking William's contemptuous ‘Huh!’ for a new form of ‘Sick him!’ gave a low growl and sprang forthwith upon the astonished Wotan. 1952 P. G. Wodehouse Barmy in Wonderland v. 53 ‘Sic 'em, Tulip,’ he said. 1977 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 2 Mar. 5/2 All my dogs are attack-trained..but they won't respond to English commands... It's so little kids can't tell him to sic someone. 2. a. To incite or encourage (a person) to attack. Const. with on adv. or prep. Also, to set (a dog or other animal) on or at. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > cause or incite to attack setc1440 to set on1592 sick1845 1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Capt. Simon Suggs 151 If I was to sick them on your old hoss yonder, they'd eat him up afore you could say Jack Robinson. 1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Great Smoky Mountains xi He sick-ed him on all the time. 1892 R. Kipling & W. Balestier Naulahka v. 50 Tarvin applauded both parties, sicking one on the other impartially for the first ten minutes. 1899 B. Tarkington Gentleman from Indiana viii. 131 Seems some of the boys..sicked the dogs on him. 1904 N.Y. Sun 9 Aug. 9 Orders, threats and the sicking of small dogs upon the intruders are without result. 1907 J. London White Fang 286 One day they openly sicked the dogs on him. 1909 J. Masefield Trag. Nan ii, in Trag. Nan & Other Plays 28 Hope they'll catch 'im and 'ang 'im. I'd like to sick the dogs at 'em. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xiii. 286 They couldn't run him away if they was to sick them bloodhounds on him. 1977 J. Hodgins Invention of World iii. 75 He threatened to turn the stones into slobbering wolves and sic them on her. b. figurative. To set (a person) to work on; to set (a person) to pursue, observe, accompany, etc. (const. on or on to). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or engage (a person) [verb (transitive)] > cause to be occupied with set1435 set1622 yoke1630 cast1662 sick1914 1914 R. Lardner in Sat. Evening Post 9 May 17/1 All I told him was that he'd have to let me pick my own roommate after this and not sick no wild man on to me. 1923 E. B. White Let. 2 Jan. (1976) 62 The Times sicks me on feature stuff because the city editor discovered early in the game that city politics appear only in humorous light to me. 1939 P. G. Wodehouse Uncle Fred in Springtime i. 18 Why should you barge in here, gnashing your bally teeth, just because Horace sicked Claude Polt, private investigator, on to you? 1958 E. Dundy Dud Avocado ii. iv. 221 I'll never forgive you for..sic-ing the sort of person the Contessa is on him. 1958 R. Stout Champagne for One (1959) xiv. 172 He had cleared away some underbrush, for instance who had sicked the cops on Laidlaw. 1972 R. Thomas Porkchoppers (1974) xxviii. 240 Penry works for me. If you need something done..then I'll sic him on it. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.c888v.¹a1150v.²1845
随便看	wet situated wet smack wet spavin wet spell wet spinning wet spun wet steam wet strength wet the baby's head wet the other eye wet the small end of one's moggan wet the t'other eye wet through wet through, to the skin wet time wet to the skin wet trade wet way wet whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beard wet wing wet wipe wet woaded wet-bed wet-blanket wet-blanketing

sickadj.n.

Compounds

Draft additions August 2004

Draft additions May 2001

Draft additions May 2001

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Draft additions June 2016

sickv.1

sickv.2

sickv.¹

sickv.²