tick
Preserved but no longer current.
Credit, trust. Johnson says it is a corruption of "ticket,"—tradesmen’s bills being formerly written on tickets or cards. On TICK, therefore, is equivalent to on TICKET, or on trust. In use in 1668, and before, as follows:—
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “tick” mean?
Credit, trust. Johnson says it is a corruption of "ticket,"—tradesmen’s bills being formerly written on tickets or cards. On TICK, therefore, is equivalent to on TICKET, or on trust. In use in 1668, and before, as follows:—
Is “tick” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.