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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

tick a lock en · VERB

Meanings

  1. To keep quiet or keep a secret.
    • Exaggerate the “tick a lock” symbol on your lips and press the palms of your hands down toward the floor as a reminder to Madame Celine if she babbles on incessantly in her thick, French Canadian accent, bickering to her beloved husband, Rene, about their trio of boys-will-be-boys sons and her recurrent professional fears that a) she only takes home one award at the Grammy's next year, and b) she contracts tonsillitis and suffers a bout of subsequent prolonged laryngitis. 2013, Kathleen Gerard, How to Become a Bodyguard for Celine Dion's Larynx:
    • When Lesnar comes back, either at WWE Survivor Series 2012 or on a future program, he just needs to tick a lock. 2012 November 15, Bill Atkinson, “Brock Lesnar: Why WWE Should Never Allow Him to Cut Long Promos”, in Bleacher Report:
    • “Tick-a-lock,” he pronounced; all the while twisting his fingers about his lips, and further all the while holding to his constant, dramatic, and overly-serious stare over me. 2012, C. David Murphy, A Diary's House:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
ticking a lock Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
ticked a lock Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
ticked a lock Tense=Past lexicographic
ticks a lock Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic