from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Tick \Tick\, n. [OE. tike, teke; akin to D. teek, G. zecke. Cf.
{Tike} a tick.] (Zool.)
(a) Any one of numerous species of large parasitic mites
which attach themselves to, and suck the blood of,
cattle, dogs, and many other animals. When filled with
blood they become ovate, much swollen, and usually
livid red in color. Some of the species often attach
themselves to the human body. The young are active and
have at first but six legs.
(b) Any one of several species of dipterous insects having
a flattened and usually wingless body, as the bird
ticks (see under {Bird}) and sheep tick (see under
{Sheep}).
[1913 Webster]
{Tick bean}, a small bean used for feeding horses and other
animals.
{Tick trefoil} (Bot.), a name given to many plants of the
leguminous genus {Desmodium}, which have trifoliate
leaves, and joined pods roughened with minute hooked hairs
by which the joints adhere to clothing and to the fleece
of sheep.
[1913 Webster]