What does "tickle" mean?
Tickle: To please; to gratify; to make joyous. Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. Pope. Such a nature Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow Which he treads on at noon. Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.To feel titillation. He with secret joy therefore Did tickle inwardly in every vein. Spenser.
- 3.To excite the sensation of titillation. Shak.
- 4.Ticklish; easily tickled. [Obs.]
- 5.Liable to change; uncertain; inconstant. [Obs.] The world is now full tickle, sikerly. Chaucer. So tickle is the state of earthy things. Spenser.
- 6.Wavering, or liable to waver and fall at the slightest touch; unstable; easily overthrown. [Obs.] Thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders, that a milkmaid, if she be in love, may sigh it off. Shak.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00