English Reference
Idiom idiom

tick over

Meaning

To run smoothly and without problems.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples
SIMPLE

“The engine just needs to tick over for a few minutes.”

CONTEXTUAL

“While the manager is away on vacation, the office continues to tick over without any major issues.”

COMPLEX

“The small business managed to tick over steadily throughout the economic downturn, thanks to a loyal customer base and careful financial planning.”

Anchors to
Related idioms2entries
  1. 01

    tick a lot of boxes

    Synonym of tick all the boxes.

  2. 02

    tick all the boxes

    To fulfill all the requirements, especially as itemized in a list; to have all the needed characteristics; to complete all the steps in a process in an orderly manner.

Last updated August 10, 2026