tickle

Word family

tick·le1 /ˈtɪkəl/ verb

1 [transitiveT]TOUCH to move your fingers gently over someone’s body in order to make them laugh 呵痒，搔〔某人的〕痒处

Stop tickling me!

别挠我痒痒！

► see thesaurus at touch

2 [intransitiveI, transitiveT]TOUCH if something touching your body tickles you, it makes you want to rub your body because it is slightly uncomfortable 使发痒；使感到痒

Mommy, this blanket tickles.

妈妈，这毛毯扎人。

Mazie’s fur collar was tickling her neck.

马齐耶的毛领子扎得她脖子痒痒的。

3 [transitiveT]SATISFIEDHAPPY if a situation, remark etc tickles you, it amuses or pleases you 〔情况、讲话等〕使开心，使高兴

be tickled pink (=be very pleased or amused) 非常开心

The kids were tickled pink to see you on TV!

看到你上电视，孩子们都好开心啊！

4 tickle somebody’s fancy informalINTERESTING if something tickles your fancy, you want to have it or to try doing it 勾起了某人的兴趣

If I see something that tickles my fancy, I’m going to buy it.

要是看到什么我感兴趣的东西，我就会买。

Examples from the Corpus

tickle• I hate being tickled.• Your beard tickles.• I remember her complaining joyfully, that the mattress underneath her was tickling her.• Her company's over-used slogan always tickled him.• She tickled it with her fingers.• She was tickled just to see Monica Seles and Hakeem Olajuwon.• When I was little my older brother would tickle me till tears ran down my face.• The dancers tickled the imaginations of San Franciscans.• It is not clear where Sir Trevor learned to tickle the ivories.

be tickled pink• But Princess Di was tickled pink yesterday by this new portrait.

tickle2 noun [singular]

1 HBHFEEL HOT/COLD/TIRED ETCa feeling in your throat that makes you want to cough 痒，发痒

I’ve got a tickle in my throat.

我的喉咙发痒。

2. give somebody a tickle TOUCHto move your fingers gently over someone’s body in order to make them laugh 挠某人痒痒

Examples from the Corpus

tickle• Nine-year-old Betsy, usually ready for a kiss and a tickle, looked unhappy.• Charity felt a tickle on the back of her neck as lightning split the air.• Or how about the faint chirp prodding you to invent an ugly doll with a hankering for tickles?• An innocent tickle in your throat could have more serious repercussions if you sip the wrong syrup.• Then he started to cough, forced himself to control the tickle he felt at the back of his throat.• Except for the tickle of the moustache.• I've had this tickle in my throat for over a week.• By 8.00 I felt the first slight warning tickle.• No prizes for seeing what tickles Lebed there.

Origin tickle1

(1300-1400) Perhaps from tick “to touch lightly” ((16-19 centuries))

tick·le1 verbtickle2 noun

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus