wick
n. countablen. the string in the middle of a candle that you light with a match. It pulls the liquid wax up so the flame can keep burning.
n. a cord or strand of braided fibers that draws liquid fuel to a flame by capillary action. Typically found in candles, oil lamps, or lighters.
The candle went out because the wick was too short.
Before lighting the new candle, she trimmed the wick to ensure it would burn evenly without smoking.
The efficiency of an oil lamp depends largely on the quality of the wick, which must be porous enough to maintain a steady flow of fuel through capillary attraction.
The noun is derived from Middle English wek, weke, wicke (“fibrous cord drawing fuel to flame of a candle, etc.; material used to make this object”), from Old English wēoce (“wick”), from Proto-West Germanic weukā (“flax bundle; wick”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European weg- (“to weave”). It has been suggested that noun etymology 1 sense 2 (“penis”) is derived from Hampton Wick, used as rhyming slang for prick. If so, that sense should be placed under etymology 2. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Dutch wiek (“wick; wing; blade, propeller”) * German Wieche (“wick; wisp”) * Swedish veke (“wick”) * West Frisian wjok, wjuk (“wing”)
From Middle English wik, wike, wich, wicke (“dwelling, home; building or land, probably enclosed, in which work is done; area, region, territory; city, town; hamlet, village”), from Old English wīc (“dwelling place, abode, lodging; temporary dwelling place, camp; place where a thing remains; town, village”), and then probably: from Latin vīcus (“row of houses; street; quarter, neighbourhood; hamlet, village; municipal section or ward; farm”), from Proto-Italic weikos (“village”); and/or from Proto-West Germanic wīhs (“burgh, village; colony, settlement; dwelling”), from Proto-Germanic *wīhsą (“settlement; village”); both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“to enter in; to settle; settlement”). Doublet of vicus and -wich. cognates * Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) (whence English eco-) * Dutch wijk (“quarter, district”) * Old Frisian wik * Old High German wîch, wih (“village”) (modern German Weichbild (“municipal area”)) * Old Saxon wic (“village”)
A variant of quick.
From Late Middle English wike, wyke (“corner of part of the body”), from Old Norse vík (“angle, bend, corner”) (attested in munnvík (“corner of the mouth”)), from víkja (“to move, bend, curve; to retreat”) (related to Old Norse vikna (“to cave in, yield”)), probably from Proto-Germanic wīkwaną (“to cease; to yield”), from Proto-Indo-European h₃weyg-, weyg- (“to bend, turn; to wind”).
Probably borrowed from Scots wick (“(noun) shot in which a bowl or stone is aimed at another so that one or other is deflected at an angle towards the tee, cannon; (verb) to strike (a bowl or curling stone) in such a manner; to (attempt to) reach the tee in this manner”), The Scots noun is probably derived from Middle English wike, wyke (“corner of part of the body”); the verb from Old Norse víkja (“to move, bend, curve; to retreat”): see further at etymology 4.
Possibly from Middle English wik (compare Old English wīc (“small bay, bight; creek, inlet”)), or from Old Norse vík (“bay; small creek, inlet”) (in place names; compare vík (“angle, bend, corner”), attested in munnvík (“corner of the mouth”)), from Proto-Germanic wīkō (“bay; fjord, inlet”), from Proto-Indo-European weyg- (“to bend, turn; to wind”), *weyk- (“to bend, curve”).
Probably a clipping of wicker.
Often used in the idiom 'get on someone's wicks' in British English to mean annoying someone, though 'get on someone's tits' or 'get on someone's nerves' is more common.