to touch or stroke lightly with the fingers, a feather, etc., so as to excite a tingling or itching sensation in; titillate.
to poke some sensitive part of the body so as to excite spasmodic laughter.
to excite agreeably; gratify: to tickle someone's vanity.
to excite amusement in: The clown's antics really tickled the kids.
to get, move, etc., by or as by tickling: She tickled him into saying yes.
to stroke the underbelly of (a fish, especially a trout) until it goes into a trancelike state, making it possible to scoop it out of the water: the ability to tickle a fish, often contested as more mythical than actual, has been written of and embellished on since ancient times: He tickled that fish until it stopped moving, and the next thing I knew, we were having trout for dinner!
verb (used without object),tick·led,tick·ling.
to be affected with a tingling or itching sensation, as from light touches or strokes: I tickle all over.
to produce such a sensation.
noun
an act or instance of tickling.
a tickling sensation.
Idioms for tickle
tickled pink, Informal. greatly pleased: She was tickled pink that he had remembered her birthday.
Origin of tickle
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tikelen; further origin uncertain; perhaps frequentative of tiken “to touch lightly”; see origin at tick1 (in obsolete sense “to touch lightly”)