English Explanatory Dictionary

lickety

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. At full speed, fast.

Pronunciation

/ˈlɪkɪti/

Word forms

lickety lickedy licketie lickerty licketty lickity lickoty

Etymology

Somewhat disputed. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests either the verb or noun lick “stroke with the tongue”, with -ety, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words. Merriam-Webster supports OED, deriving lickety-split from the same senses of lick. Harper's Online Etymology Dictionary, in contrast, suggests it is a variant of the noun lick “sprint; rate of speed”. Some writers suggest that lickety-split may be onomatopoeic – compare clickety, clicketty-clack – but they note this as personal opinion. The word is attested, with variable spelling, from the 19th century; see quotations below and at Citations:lickety.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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