1tongue 舌头 [transitiveT]HBEATWET to move your tongue across the surface of something in order to eat it, wet it, clean it etc 舔;舔吃
The dog jumped up and licked her face.
那只狗跳起来舔她的脸。
lick something ↔ up
A cat licked up the drops spilt on the floor.
一只猫把溅在地板上的东西舔光了。
lick something off something
He licked the drops off his upper lip.
他舔去上唇的液滴。
2sport 体育运动 [transitiveT] informalBEAT/DEFEAT to defeat an opponent 击败〔对手〕
I bet we could lick the best teams in Georgia.
我敢打赌我们能打败佐治亚州最强的队。
3flames/waves 火焰/波浪 [intransitiveI, transitiveT] literaryTOUCH if flames or waves lick something, they touch it again and again with quickmovements 〔火焰〕燎着,卷烧;〔波浪〕轻拍
lick at/against
Soon the flames were licking at the curtains.
火舌很快就吞卷窗帘。
4have (got) something lickedinformalDEAL WITH to have succeeded in dealing with a difficult problem 使某事得到解决
Just when you think you’ve got it licked, it comes back.
就在你以为万事大吉的时候,问题又回来了。
5lick your lips (also lick your chops American English)ENTHUSIASTICEXCITED to feel eager and excited because you are expecting to get something good 舔唇向往,热切期待
Scottish rugby fans are licking their lips in anticipation.
苏格兰的橄榄球迷正在热切期盼着。
Examples from the Corpus
lick your lips• Digby could almost hear the commentatorslicking their lips.• A rare, special smell that should have had her licking her lips and counting the hours until lunch.• Plummerlicked his lips and frowned.• He licked his lips and looked at my laughingmouth.• She licked her lips and read fast.• The other licks his lips, and stares at Slothrop.• He bared his teeth and licked his lips, as Blackberry had done before the deadhedgehog on the road.
6.lick your woundsDISAPPOINTEDto quietly think about the defeat or disappointment you have just suffered 〔失败或失望后〕舔舐伤口,重整旗鼓
Examples from the Corpus
lick your wounds• The day after the election, many defeated conservatives were licking their wounds.• At least we were in good hands while we licked our wounds.• We thought the murderoushordes were beaten and whimpering out in the jungles, licking their wounds.• Real togetherness Einstein licked his wounds after his long drawn out battle with Bohr about the uncertaintyprinciple.• Feeling hurt, and wanting to lick her wounds in private, another sort of pride came to Fabia then.• Sometimes they choose to lick their wounds in quiet or stay in a shut-down state, raginginward1y for years.• Eventually they would withdraw those investments, turn inward, lick their wounds, repair their factories, and bolster their stock.• The more time she had to lick her wounds, the better.
7.lick somebody’s bootsOBEYto obey someone completely because you are afraid of them or want to please them 巴结某人,拍某人马屁
→ knock/lick somebody/something into shapeat shape1(3)
Examples from the Corpus
lick• We thought we had it licked, but it turns out to be stronger than we are.• Manley has been unable to lick his drinking problem• In moments, they were snuffling at his thighs, jumping up with gleefulwhines to lick his face.• Paul put down the chicken and licked his fingers.• He licks his lips nervously, but he doesn't move.• The sun had set and dusk, like some nocturnalbeast, had crept out of hiding and was stealthily licking its paws.• He paws at me, licks me, nuzzles me and I talk back.• She had barely licked the envelope before she had her first pains.• Nina licked the meltedchocolate off her fingers.• The children sat licking their icecreams.• You could not lick them, and you could not get yours licked.
1[countableC usually singular]HBEATWET when you move your tongue across the surface of something 舔
Can I have a lick of your ice cream?
我可以舔一口你的冰激凌吗?
2a lick of paint/colour etcCOVERAMOUNTa small amount of paint etc put onto the surface of something to improve its appearance 薄薄一层油漆/颜料等
It’ll be okay after a lick of paint.
刷上一点油漆就行了。
Examples from the Corpus
a lick of paint/colour etc• Rooms have recently had a lick of paint, but nothing too drastic, making this an unbeatablecentralLondonbargain.• Julie Mills moved into her Edwardian town house in London expecting to just give it a lick of paint.
3not a lick of somethingAmerican EnglishAmE old-fashioned not even a small amount of something 一点…也没有
Ann won’t do a lick of work around the house.
家里的事安一点也不做。
Examples from the Corpus
not a lick of something• Those kidsdon't have a lick ofcommonsense.
4[countableC] informal part of a song played on a guitar 〔吉他演奏歌曲的〕小过门
a bluesy guitar lick
用吉他演奏的蓝调风格小过门
5.at a great/fair lickBritish EnglishBrE informalFAST/QUICK very fast 迅速地
6give something a lick and a promise
a)British EnglishBrEWASH to wash or clean something quickly and carelessly 马虎地清洗某物;随便打扫一下某物
b)American EnglishAmECARELESS to do a job quickly and carelessly 马马虎虎地做某事
7.[countableC] informalHIT an act of hitting someone 一击,击打
Examples from the Corpus
lick• He cringed as one of the girls came up to the car and gave Donna a lick of her cone.• Can I have a lick of your ice cream cone?• A lick of colourpulsed out of the engine, dissolved, came again and grew strong.• Ellis landed a few licks early in the third round.• When I was 12, most of my licks were copped from somebody else.• Big Brotherchug and flow to good effect and sling some qualitylicks.• They meet at saltlicks and live on leaves and fruit.• Having settled her differences, she gave my hand a tentativelick.