sicken
English
Etymology
From Middle English sekenen, equivalent to sick + -en. Cognate with Danish sygne (“to pine”), Swedish sjukna (“to fall ill; become sick”), Norwegian sykne, Icelandic sjúkna (“to sicken; become sick”).
Pronunciation
Verb
sicken (third-person singular simple present sickens, present participle sickening, simple past and past participle sickened)
- (transitive) To make ill.
- The infection will sicken him until amputation is needed.
- (intransitive) To become ill.
- I will sicken if I don’t get some more exercise.
- Francis Bacon
- The judges that sat upon the jail, and those that attended, sickened upon it and died.
- (transitive) To fill with disgust or abhorrence.
- His arrogant behaviour sickens me.
- (sports) To lower the standing of.
- 2007, Euan Reedie, Alan Shearer: Portrait Of A Legend - Captain Fantastic, →ISBN:
- Whenever I get booed by opposition fans it only makes me more determined to sicken them.
- 2011, Scott Burns, Walter Smith the Ibrox Gaffer: A Tribute to a Rangers Legend:
- But instead of giving up, the Rangers team managed to grab a dramatic later winner from Kenny Miller to sicken St Mirren and lift the cup
- (intransitive) To be filled with disgust or abhorrence.
- Shakespeare
- Mine eyes did sicken at the sight.
- Shakespeare
- (intransitive) To become disgusting or tedious.
- Goldsmith
- The toiling pleasure sickens into pain.
- Goldsmith
- (intransitive) To become weak; to decay; to languish.
- Alexander Pope
- All pleasures sicken, and all glories sink.
- Alexander Pope
Translations
to make ill
|
to be or become ill
|
Anagrams
German
Etymology
From Central Franconian secke (“to piss”), from Proto-Germanic *saikijaną, whence also archaic German seichen. The Central Franconian -ck- may be irregular or may be from a geminated variant Proto-Germanic *sikkōną (compare German sickern). The figurative sense “to be annoyed, to complain” is also found in cognate Dutch zeiken. Compare English pissed off.
Pronunciation
Verb
- (regional, colloquial, western Germany) to piss
- Ich geh ma’ eben sicken.
- I’m gonna take a piss.
- (regional, colloquial, western Germany) to be annoyed; to be pissed off; to complain
- Lass ihn! Der is’ den ganzen Tag schon am Sicken.
- Leave him! He’s been pissed off all day.
Usage notes
- The figurative sense is used chiefly in the colloquial progressive with am (as above).
Conjugation
Derived terms
Swedish
Pronoun
sicken c sicket n sicka, sickna pl
- (colloquial) what a; expresses a (often strong) feeling such as surprise, disappointment; liking, disliking
- Sicken dag!
- What a day!
Synonyms
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -en (inchoative)
- Rhymes:English/ɪkən
- Rhymes:English/ɪkɪn
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Sports
- English terms with quotations
- English ergative verbs
- German terms derived from Central Franconian
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- Regional German
- German colloquialisms
- German terms with usage examples
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish pronouns
- Swedish colloquialisms
- Swedish terms with usage examples