thickadj.n.
/θɪk/, U.S. /θɪk/ A. adj.
I. That has opposite sides at some distance from each other, and related uses.
1. figurative.a1571 Jewel Sacram. in Serm. etc. (1583) X v b I neede not speake more hereof, the errour is so grosse, so thicke, so sensible and palpable.† b. Extending far down from the surface; deep.† d. transferred. Having substance all through; solid, not hollow. Obsolete. rare.
a. Having relatively great extension between the opposite surfaces or sides; of comparatively large measurement through: as a thick wall, board, or plank, a thick stem, post, or stick; a thick stratum or seam of coal, a thick layer of fat or coating of paint, thick cloth, etc. Opposed to thin; distinct from long and broad: cf. sense A. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > thickness > [adjective] > thick
thickc888
fata1325
tun-greatc1405
crassy1630
junky1825
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxv. §4 Hi woldon witan hu heah hit wære to ðæm heofone, & hu ðicce se hefon wære & hu fæst.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 200 Lege on þone þiccestan clað oþðe on fel.
c1020 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) lv. 91 Culam [= cowl] on wintre þicce on sumere þinne.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 41 Þe blake clað..is þickere aȝein þe wind.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 490/2 Thykke clothe.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 753 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 172 He saw a wal wes fow thyke.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Kings xii. 10 My litle fynger shall be thicker then my fathers loynes.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thicke leafe, carnosum folium.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 6 The Grapes that grow there..have a thick skin.
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 206 Stems several, the central one thickest; leafy.
1809 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 21 335 The individuals belonging to the Austrian branch have thick lips.
1845 T. N. Talfourd Vacation Rambles I. 174 The dull gleam through the thick glass of my small round peep-hole.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > extension downwards or depth > [adjective]
deep854
thickc893
lowc1350
profound?a1425
howea1500
dernc1500
deepsome?1615
c8931 [see sense A. 2a].
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. iv. xxxvi. 58 A thick Frost would kill the Roots, as well as the Head.
a1698 W. Row Suppl. in R. Blair Life (1848) (modernized text) ix. 138 Riding the water of Belfast, it being thicker than he apprehended.
c. Of a person or animal: Thickset, stout, burly. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > broad shape or physique > [adjective]
stalworthc1175
thicka1250
stubblea1300
quarryc1300
stalworthyc1300
stoura1350
sturdyc1386
buirdlya1400
squarec1430
couragec1440
craskc1440
substantialc1460
ample1485
stalwart1508
puddinga1540
full-bodied1588
robust1666
two-handed1687
swankinga1704
strapping1707
broad-set1708
thick-set1724
throddy?1748
thick-bodied1752
broad-built1771
junky1825
swankie1838
stodgy1854
wide-bodied1854
beefish1882
hunky1911
buff1982
buffed1986
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 580 Ne þu nart þikke ne þu nart long.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8570 Þikke mon he was ynou, round & noȝt wel long.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Dido. 1198 Vp on a thikke palfrey..Sit Dido.
1486 Bk. St. Albans a vj b A longe hawke, a short thike hawke.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 2252/1 She was..of a very litle and short stature, somwhat thicke.
1643 R. Baker Chron. Kings of Eng. i. 49 He was but meane of stature, thick and square bodied.
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd ii. 69 Thick Jamie Bud, lang Sandy Kay.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [adjective] > free from empty spaces or solid
thicka1400
solidc1400
thightc1440
unhollow1548
unhollowed1609
a1400–50 Alexander 4073 Imagis..He made his pepill þaim to perse, to proue þam with-in, Quethire þai ware hologhe or hale, & hale he þam fyndis, Saȝe þaim thike þurȝe-out.
2. † b. Standing one behind the other; = deep adj. 3c. Obsolete.
a. Used (with words of measurement, or in the comparative or superlative) to express the third dimension of a solid, which has a direction at right angles at once to the length and the breadth: Having a (specified) thickness. (Sometimes equivalent to deep, but not now said of a body of water or other fluid.) Commonly following the words stating the measure, as ten feet thick, paper1/ 10of a millimeter thick.In this sense not opposed to thin; for the thinnest substance has some thickness, as the shortest line has some length, and the narrowest surface some breadth or width.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > thickness > [adjective] > having (specific) thickness
thickc893
yard-thick1901
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. iii. §1 Ælce geare þæt land middeweard oferfleow mid fotes þicce flode.
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. iv. xiii. §2 Se weall wæs xx fota ðicce, & xl elna heah.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame iii. 245 Men myght make of hem a bible xxti foote thykke.
1493 Litt. Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 134 Whiche wall we Fynde xxij yenchis thycke by the grownde.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 189 Bid her paint..an inch thicke, to this she must come.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 84 One Inch thick, and three Inches broad.
1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 70 The Front is thick Fourteen foot.
1812 S. Edwards New Bot. Garden I. i. 61 Some very rotten dung put in the bottom six inches thick.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 69 When a sheet of water is not a quarter of an inch thick before it meets the float [of a mill-wheel].
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [adjective] > one behind the other > (so many) one behind the other
thick1604
deep1791
1604 E. Grimeston tr. True Hist. Siege Ostend 56 They discouered their Gabions nine thicke.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone i. v. sig. Dv There is a guard, of ten spies thick, vpon her. View more context for this quotation
1650 T. Rudd Pract. Geom. ii. 130 The Pikes are invironed with shot four men thick, round about.
3.
a. figurative. Excessive in some disagreeable quality; too much to manage or to stand; spec. too gross, indecent, or indelicate. Often in phrase a bit thick. Cf. to lay it on thick at lay v.1 Phrasal verbs. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > quality of being unendurable or intolerable > [adjective]
untholelyc1225
untholinga1300
unsufferablea1325
untolerablea1382
importable1402
untholefula1425
unbearablec1449
unportablea1500
impassible1508
intolerablea1513
insupportable1530
insufferable1533
incomportable1574
impatient1590
intollerous1594
unsuffered1598
supportless1602
unsupportable1602
indurable1607
impatible1623
unbrookable1633
unsustainable1662
unendurable1801
impassive1828
punishing1833
thick1884
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > quality of being unendurable or intolerable > unendurable or intolerable [phrase]
too much1533
too much of a good thing1809
a bit thick1884
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > excessively [phrase] > that which is excessive
too much of a good thinga1616
a bit thick1884
a trifle much1930
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > excessive amount or degree > [adjective] > excessive or too great in amount or degree > excessive in degree
unmeasurablea1398
dismeasurec1400
dismeasurable1477
dismeasured1483
over1494
endlya1513
intolerable1544
wide1574
overloading1576
unconscionable1576
meanless1587
powerable1588
hyperbolical1589
extravagant1598
grievous1632
flagrant1634
exorbitant1648
overbearinga1708
unbalanced1712
well-favoured1746
steep1856
thick1884
ripe1918
1884 Standard 6 June 6/3 I know it is thick in Brum. [Birmingham] for you, so that we must meet in London.
1902 G. W. E. Russell Londoner's Log-bk. iii. 46 These manifold exercises of culture are characterized by our curate as ‘a bit thick’, and he owns himself ‘fairly out of it’.
1902 Daily Chron. 9 Sept. 7/3 Guardsmen who have been drinking are a thick lot,..and gentle methods will not always prevail with them.
1907 H. Wales Yoke xii They hinted more than once that Christopher was ‘a bit thick’.
1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights x ‘By the way, what's the piece like?’.. ‘A bit thick, my dear? I should just think it was! It's an adaptation from the French, you know’.
1907 H. Wyndham Flare of Footlights xxii ‘It's a bit thick’, he said indignantly, ‘when a man of my position is passed over for a beginner like young Merrick’.
b. the thick end of the stick = the dirty end (of the stick) at dirty adj. 1e.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > [noun] > unpleasantness > unpleasant part of situation
the thick end of the stick1957
1957 Times 22 Nov. 8/3 Sir Ralph Richardson has the thick end of the stick... He has to represent an ordinary city insurance clerk.
1960 Woman's Own 13 Feb. 17/2 I'm the one to get what Father used to call ‘the thick end of the stick’.
II. In general sense of dense.
4. figurative.a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 355 Þey makeþ..melody wiþ wel þicke tunes, werbeles, and nootes.1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iii. 54 His Reign was not onely long..but also thick for remarkable mutations happening therein.
a. Closely occupied, filled, or set with objects or individuals; composed of numerous individuals or parts densely arranged; dense, crowded. Of hair: Bushy, luxuriant.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > bushy, thick
roughOE
lothenc1440
bushed1535
shirl1567
shagged1587
shaga1596
bushya1609
thick1624
shaggy1638
moppy1725
tousled1847
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxv. §5 Ðu..lædst me hidres & ðidres on swa þicne wudu.
a900 Old Eng. Martyrol. 148 Þa gewat he in þone þiccestan wudu.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 156 gif hær to þicce sie, genim [etc.].
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 17 In ore vaste þikke hegge.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13738 Amidden þan þrunge þer heo þihkest [c1300 Otho þeckest] weoren.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 13925 Mikel was þe pres, ful þykke þe þro.
a1400 K. Alis. (Bodl.) 4067 Of þe draweyng of bowȝes & stykke, Þe eyre bicom trouble & þicke.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 490/2 Thykke, as wodys, gresse, or corne, or other lyke, densus.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Abbot of Tungland in Poems (1998) I. 58 Thik was the clud of kayis and crawis.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 12496 A thoner and a thicke rayne þrublet in the skewes.
1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 166 A thick multitude of people.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. vi. 61 He had a thicke blacke bush beard.
1659 J. Dryden Heroique Stanza's xiv, in E. Waller et al. Three Poems 4 Thick as the Galaxy with starr's is sown.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 56. ¶3 A thick Forest made up of Bushes, Brambles, and pointed Thorns.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 199 The women..were seen amidst the thickest fire serving out water and ammunition to their husbands and brothers.
1872 Ld. Tennyson Last Tournament in Gareth & Lynette 104 Then fell thick rain.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 24 Nov. 8/2 After..the high grass and thick country is entered.
b. Const. with, †of.
ΚΠ
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 217 A wyndow thikke of many a barre Of Iren.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lxiv. [lxv.] 13 The valleys stonde so thicke with corne yt they laugh and synge.
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos vii. sig. S.iij This Laurel bushe full thick of browse.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 22 The Red Seas coast towards Aden is thick of good towns.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Sigismonda & Guiscardo in Fables 127 A Mount of rough Ascent, and thick with Wood.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest IV. xviii. 154 The whole range of walls and towers was thick with defenders.
5. † b. Of actions: Occurring in quick succession; rapid, frequent. Also transferred of an agent. Obsolete.
a. Of the individual things collectively: Existing or occurring in large numbers in a relatively small space, or at short intervals; densely arranged, crowded; hence, numerous, abundant, plentiful. (Usually predicative, rarely attributive) Also in colloquial phrase thick on the ground: (chiefly of persons) numerous, abundant; closely concentrated or crowded. Cf. thin adj. 2e.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [adjective] > crowded together
thickc893
throngc1450
frequented1578
thwackeda1670
crowded1725
serried1834
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [adjective] > abundant, numerous
so manyc888
thickc893
muchc1225
rifec1275
stourc1275
unridec1300
copiousc1384
plentya1400
rivedc1400
numerable?a1425
numerous?a1475
many a several1543
rank1545
numberous1566
huge1570
multuous1586
multeous1589
numberful1594
numberable1596
numbery1606
numbersomea1617
multitudinousa1631
sand-like1630
voluminous1650
several1712
smart1750
powerful1800
multitudinarious1810
multitudinary1838
the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > [adjective] > full > crowded
thickc893
replete?a1475
frequentc1540
throng1557
thicky1587
thronged1605
celebrious1611
crowded1612
stiff1683
swarming1810
multitudinous1820
throngful1830
dense1842
swarmy1858
teeminga1873
swarmed1885
mobbed1898
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [adjective] > densely packed
thickc893
thick-set?a1366
rankc1450
compact1563
thronged1581
thickened?1611
close1654
dense1776
tight1942
the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > in abundance [phrase]
in wonea1300
by (or with) large metc1300
in plentya1382
in (the most, etc.) substantious manner1533
at fouth1535
in (great, good) store1600
thick on the ground1893
in spades1929
a-go-go1961
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. i. §9 Heo gedeð mid þæm flode swiþe þicce eorþwæstmas on Ægypta lande.
c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 12 Hooly freres..As thikke as motes in the sonne beem.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxiv. 152 Gude tounes er þare so thikk þat [etc.].
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 6626 He segh þe troiens so tore, & turnyt so þik, All pyght in a place on a playn feld.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxxxvj Rotman..running amonges his ennemies where they were thickest was slayne.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 302 His Legions..Thick as Autumnal Leaves that strow the Brooks In Vallombrosa. View more context for this quotation
c1720 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture III. xvii. 30 Thick columns..distant from each other..at the most two diameters.
1818 M. M. Sherwood Stories Ch. Catech. (ed. 4) xxxvi. 266 We are pretty thick..in this berth.
1835 R. Browning Paracelsus v. 174 Lay me..within some narrow grave..But where such graves are thickest.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 629 Among the thick graves of unquiet and aspiring statesmen, lie more delicate sufferers.
1893 J. Salisbury Gloss. Words S.E. Worcs. (at cited word) Thick on the ground = crowded.
1919 J. Buchan Mr. Standfast xii. 218 I see you're some kind of general. They're pretty thick on the ground here.
1964 C. Willock Enormous Zoo viii. 133 Where animals are thick on the ground as with the herds, often three hundred strong, of topi [etc.].
1978 ‘E. Peters’ Rainbow's End i. 24 Willing workers are not so thick on the ground these days.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > [adjective]
commona1325
ofta1382
yedera1400
oftena1450
thick?c1450
repeated1577
obvious1586
crebrousc1600
frequent1604
thick and threefold1615
oftentime1876
oft-time1895
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 8319 Þe bischops prayers þik Made him to take þe bischopryk.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thycke speaker, tolutiloquus.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thycke speakynge, tolutiloquentia.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie T 129 A thicke and feeble beating of the pulse.
1614 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 149 If you make not so thick goings as you used.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. vi. 68 He furnaces The thicke sighes from him. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Dryden Indian Emperour i. ii. 13 Thick breath, quick pulse, and heaving of my heart.
6. figurative.1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iv. v. 80 The people muddied Thick and vnwholsome in thoughts. View more context for this quotationa1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) v. ii. 148 A woman mou'd, is like a fountaine troubled, Muddie, ill seeming, thicke, bereft of beautie. View more context for this quotation
a. Having great or considerable density, either from natural consistence or from containing much solid matter; dense, viscid; stiff. (Said of liquids, semi-liquids, and plastic or easily liquefiable solids; formerly sometimes of solids generally.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > [adjective]
thickc888
fastOE
sada1375
massya1382
sounda1387
massya1398
corpulent1398
grossa1475
tight1513
massive1526
spiss?1527
solid?1533
thight1539
solidate1542
crass1545
bodily1557
spissy1570
dense1599
consolid1613
materiate1626
crassy1630
cakey1705
rocky1825
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [adjective]
thickc888
toughc1000
cleavingc1350
gluey1382
gluish1382
gleiming1387
gummya1398
clammy1398
gleimy1398
viscosec1400
viscousc1400
emplastic?a1425
plastery?c1425
stiffc1430
clamc1440
engleimous?c1475
rawky1509
rich1535
clammish1543
limy1552
strong1560
glutinous1576
cloggy1587
emplastical1590
viscuous1603
plasterish1610
slaba1616
bound1635
viscid1635
lentous1646
spiscious1655
melleous1656
salivarious1656
glutining1658
syrupical1659
glairy1662
gummous1669
gummose1678
mellaginous1681
melligineous1684
pargety1684
sticky1688
sizy1691
dauby1697
syrupy1707
treacly?1734
glaireous1755
flabbyc1780
spissid1782
stodgy1823
waxy1835
teery1848
treacle-like1871
viscoid1877
slauming1904
gooey1906
gloopy1929
gunky1937
gungy1962
yucky1975
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiii. §5 Sio eorþe þon is hefigre & þiccre þon oðra gesceafta.
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xliv. 329 Ðonne ðæt mon gadrige ðæt ðicce fenn on hiene.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 74 Wæter..swa þicce swa huniges tear.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 314 Hrer on blede oþ hit sie þicce swa þynne briw.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xix. 398 I can..drawe..at on hole Þikke ale and þinne ale.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) (1495) xix. lxiii. [xlviii.] Þe more þik melke is þe more chese is þerin.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 490/2 Thykke, as lycure, spissus.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thicke as dregges, turbidus.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 32 Make the Grewell thicke, and slab. View more context for this quotation
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 86 So as the surface might not be some airsom body, but all such thick or fast body.
1875 C. Darwin Insectivorous Plants v. 78 A mixture about as thick as cream.
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography x. 161 Not..a clear bright spring, but..a thick stream laden with detritus.
1893 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 106 It should solidify into a thick jelly.
b. Of air: Foul from admixture of fumes, vapours, etc., stuffy, close; also, dense, not rare or thin. Now rare or Obsolete. (Cf. A. 7.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [adjective] > of the nature of fumes or vapour > smoky, thick, etc.
smokyc1374
thick1626
vaporo-sulphureous1676
turbid1705
grossa1822
the world > matter > gas > air > [adjective] > specific qualities of (the) air > thick or turbid
troublyc1380
greata1398
murkc1480
mistyc1485
foggyc1487
troublea1500
grossa1592
fat1598
filthya1616
thick1626
murky1667
turbid1705
solid1807
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §143 When the aire is more Thin,..the Sound pierceth better; But when the Aire is more Thicke, (as in the Night) the Sound spendeth and spreadeth abroad lesse.
1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 269 Thick fogs..are continually rising from the Po, and other waters, by which the air is rendered thick and moist, and consequently unhealthy.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Peter Bell III iii, in Poet. Wks. (?1840) 241/2 They breathe an air, Thick, infected, joy-dispelling.
7.
a. Of mist, fog, smoke, etc.: Having the component particles densely aggregated, so as to intercept or hinder vision. Hence of the weather, etc.: Characterized by mist or haze; foggy, misty. Also dialect or colloquial in (to be) thick o' fog.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [adjective] > dense or dark (of mist, fog, or weather)
thicka1000
murk1609
gross1785
greasya1825
troubled1855
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [adjective] > foggy
foggyc1487
moky1706
rouky1808
brumous1849
softish1855
smudgy1870
(to be) thick o' fog1935
a1000 Boeth. Metr. v. 6 Se þicca mist þynra weorðe.
a1000 Boeth. Metr. xx. 264 Todrif þone þiccan [mist].
c1000 Ælfric Exodus xix. 16 Ligetta & þunor & þicce genip [L. nubes densissima] oferwreh þone munt.
c1290 St. Michael 621 in S. Eng. Leg. 317 Þanne freost þe þicke Myst, and cleouez an heiȝ on þe treo.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame ii. 400 Or ellis was the aire so thikke That y ne myght not discerne.
c1400 Song Roland 848 Thik, and clowdy, and evyll wedur thene.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 211 Like to a thick smoke ascending out of a great fire which would dim the eies.
1654 B. Whitelocke Jrnl. Swedish Ambassy (1772) II. 328 The fogge..was so thicke, that we could not see two ships length before us.
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 18 The Weather proving thick and hazy.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. x. 290 The horizon was so thick that the vessels ahead were no longer to be seen.
1884 Queen Victoria More Leaves 128 A very dull, dark thick morning... Still, no rain.
1935 ‘L. Luard’ Conquering Seas ii. 19 Thick o' fog—can't see whaleback.
1972 E. Staebler Cape Breton Harbour xvii. 148 We wanted to go back next day but thought we better wait till it was thick-a-fog and nobody'd see us.
b. transferred, esp. of darkness: Difficult to penetrate; dense, deep, profound.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [adjective] > intensely dark > thick or dense (of night or darkness)
thicka900
close1532
thicky1587
grossa1592
murky1814
a900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) v. xiii. [xii.] 426 Ða þeostro..swa micel & swa ðicco wæron, þæt ic noht geseon meahte.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 194 Ðicce ðeostru and egeslice.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3102 Ðhikke ðherknesse cam on ðat lond.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 6566 Swa mykel myrknes, Þat it may be graped, swa thik it es.
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xx. 21 Moses drew neere vnto the thicke darkenes, where God was. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. v. 49 Come thick Night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoake of Hell. View more context for this quotation
1781 Sc. Paraphrases i. ii Thick darkness brooded o'er the deep.
III. In transferred senses.
8. Of the voice, etc.: Not clear; hoarse; having a confused or husky sound; indistinct, inarticulate; also, of low pitch; deep; guttural; throaty.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > indistinct
thicka1398
undistinguished1595
obscure1656
muddy1841
thick-voiced1859
slushy1861
thick-speaking1861
woolly1872
stuffy1889
far-away1897
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [adjective] > inarticulate indistinct > of speech
thicka1398
clipped1483
unlanguaged1677
slurred1746
slithering1840
slurring1848
mushmouth1902
mushmouthed1909
slurry1937
side-of-the-mouth1939
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxxi. 1388 Þe voices beþ fatte and þikke whan moche spirit comeþ oute, as þe voice of a man.
1589 [implied in: Voy. W. Towrson in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 102 These..wordes they speake very thicke. (at thick adv. 4)].
1748 J. Mason Ess. Elocution 17 To cure a thick confused cluttering Voice.
1844 J. W. Carlyle Lett. (1883) I. 283 His speech is..so thick that I have great difficulty in catching what he says.
1881 D. G. Rossetti Ballads & Sonnets (1882) 325 The young rooks cheep 'mid the thick caw o' the old.
1887 H. Caine Deemster III. xxxiii. 55 The thick boom of the sea that came up from the rocks.
1889 W. R. Morfill Gram. Russ. Lang. 4 The sound of the vowel ы is a thick guttural e.
9.
a. Of or in reference to hearing: Dull of perception; not quick or acute. Also of sight. (See also thick-eyed adj. at Compounds 2b in Compounds 2b, thick-sighted adj.) Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > dullness of sense perception > [adjective]
bluntc1175
murkc1390
dulla1400
dulledc1480
thick1526
indistincta1530
dullen1602
unsharpened1620
obtundeda1644
muggy1824
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xxviii. 27 The hert off this people is wexed grosse and their eares wexe thycke of hearinge.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 81 Many become deafe by hearing ouergreat soundes, whereof wee haue experience in Smithes, amongest whome many are thicke of hearing.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 308 His demensions to any thicke sight were inuincible. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) v. iii. 21 My sight was euer thicke . View more context for this quotation
1720 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1852) III. 97 But we find their Ears are thick.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) ‘Thick o' yearin'’ (hearing).
b. Of mental faculties or actions, or of persons: Slow (or characterized by slowness) of apprehension; dense, crass, thick-headed; stupid, obtuse. Now chiefly colloquial of persons. Also emphatically, as thick as two planks, etc. Cf. thick-headed adj. b.In quot. 1600 with play on sense A. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective] > of actions, ideas, etc.
sloweOE
bluntc1175
simplea1425
headless1563
sottish1592
thick1600
stupid1609
incrassate1659
crass1660
simple-minded1774
bright1830
simplistic1844
noodly1870
unelectric1876
dinlo1907
clunky1965
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iv. 243 Hang him baboon, his wit's as thicke as Tewksbury mustard. View more context for this quotation
1603 J. Hayward Answer Conf. conc. Succession iv. M j I omit your thicke error in putting no difference betweene a magistrate and a king.
1670 W. Penn Great Case Liberty of Consc. (new ed.) v. 32 What if you think our Reasons thick, and our ground of Separation mistaken?
a1800 S. Pegge Suppl. Grose's Provinc. Gloss. (1814) Thick... Also stupid. North.
1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XVI lxxxiii. 105 To hammer a hoarse laugh from the thick throng.
1865 Harper's Mag. Dec. 133/2 [He] is nevertheless slow to see the point—in fact, ‘thick’ otherwise than crosswise.
1961 S. Chaplin Day of Sardine ii. 53 Free rides on trains and trolleys were routine stuff; and the thickest character in the school could find a buckshee road into a cinema.
1974 G. Honeycombe Adam's Tale i. ii. 27 ‘He must be as thick as two planks,’ said Nick.
1976 J. I. M. Stewart Memorial Service iii. 40 You might expect to become P.M. if you hadn't been so thick as to accept your idiotic life peerage.
1980 ‘J. Gash’ Spend Game xiii. 130 Rough-mannered and a bit greedy... Corporal's thick as a plank.
IV. Intimate, familiar. (figurative from sense A. 5.)
10. Close in confidence and association; intimate, familiar; often in similes (with allusion to other senses), e.g. as thick as glue, as inkle-weavers, as peas in a shell, as (two) thieves, as thick as three in a bed, etc. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > intimate or familiar
homelya1387
familiarc1405
familarya1500
internal1581
intrinsical1602
intimated1606
intrinsic1613
intimea1618
intimous1619
domestica1631
intimate1635
pack1686
thickc1756
throng1768
versant1787
solid1882
chummy1884
tutoyant1899
cosy1927
schmoozy1954
tight1956
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > intimate or familiar > very intimate
hand and glove1654
hand in glove1737
as great (or thick) as inkle-weavers1738
as thick as glue, as inkle-weavers, as peas in a shell, as (two) thieves1833
like that1925
c1756 Bp. Law in J. Nichols Lit. Anecd. 18th Cent. (1812) II. 70 ‘Yes’, said he, ‘we begin now, though contrary to my expectation, and without my seeking, to be pretty thick; and I thank God who reconciles me to my adversaries’.
1781 R. Twining Let. 6 Sept. in Sel. Papers Twining Family (1887) 100 He and I were quite ‘thick’. We rode together frequently.
1802 C. Lamb Let. Feb. in Lett. C. & M. A. lamb (1976) II. 54 Are you & the first Consul thick?
1820 W. Scott Monastery I. Introd. Ep. 18 That's right, Captain..you twa will be as thick as three in a bed an' ance ye forgather.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter II. ii. 48 She and my wife are as thick as thieves, as the proverb goes.
1836 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) II. 199 He is thick with all the new Ministers.
1869 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 593 We soon grew as thick as inkle-weavers.
B. n. (absol. use of adj., passing into n.): That which (rarely, one who) is thick, in any sense.
I. Only in singular.
1.
a. The most densely occupied or crowded part (of a wood, an assemblage, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [noun] > crowded condition or crowding > most crowded part
thicka1250
thickest1488
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 1626 Me may vppe smale sticke Me sette a wude ine þe þikke.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xxi. 226 Ȝif ony of hem had ben hid in the thikke of the wodes.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxi Some fledde for succor in the thyck of the parke.
1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 585 In the thicke of the dust and smoke, presently entred his men.
1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1671) 28 If I could yoke in amongst the thick of Angels, and Seraphims.
1714 Spectator No. 625. ⁋22 In the Anti-chamber, where I thrust my Head into the thick of the Press.
1857 Lady Canning in A. J. C. Hare Two Noble Lives (1893) II. 328 The Residency buildings and its gardens are in the thick of the town.
1890 C. Martyn Wendell Phillips 192 Mr. Phillips was constantly out in the thick and throng of the world.
b. figurative. The position, time, stage, or state in which activity is most intense; the midst, the height (of an action). Always in the thick of.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > a proceeding > in progress [phrase] > while something is going on
in the midst of1535
in midst (of)a1556
in the middle of1609
thick1681
society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [adverb] > in the thick of the fight
in pressa1450
in the thick of1821
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace ix. 214 Something they enjoy..in the very thick of troubles.
1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus iii. i. 86 Where a soldier should be, In the thick of the fight.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. i. 13 They are in the thick of a revival.
1870 J. H. Burton Hist. Scotl. to 1688 V. lv. 348 The bishop was in the thick of these splendid projects.
1885 H. Dunckley in Manch. Examiner 15 June 6/2 We are now in the thick of a Cabinet crisis.
2.
a. The more turbid or viscid part of a liquid, which usually subsides to the bottom. rare.
ΚΠ
?c1400 J. Lydgate Æsop's Fab. ii. 39 He was wont my water here to trouble, To meue þe thyk þat lay low doune.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) I. 78 This he dissolved in Water, and poured off the thick into another Bason, till all was gone but the Sand.
b. A beverage of thick or heavy consistency, as cocoa, porter, etc. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [noun] > thick drink
thick1887
1887 J. W. Horsley Jottings from Jail i. 26 A somewhat..despairing view of prison life is indicated by ‘Lads, your only friend here is your brown lofe [sic] and pint of thick’.
1903 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VII. i. 99/1 Thick, (common).—porter: ironically said to be ‘a decoction of brewers' aprons’.
1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 309 Thick, le café, le jus.
1947 W. de la Mare Coll. Stories for Children 222 The mugs of thick proved to be cocoa.
3. The thick part of a limb or of the body.
ΚΠ
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur vii. xxii. 248 He smote hym with a foyne thorou the thycke of the thyȝ.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9021 He..braid out a big sword,..& derit hym full euyll Throgh the thicke of the thegh.
1880 Ld. Tennyson Northern Cobbler xv An' blacksmith 'e strips me the thick ov 'is airm, an 'e shaws it to me.
4. So ˈthickest (the superlative adjective used absol. as n.): the thickest part (in any of preceding senses).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [noun] > crowded condition or crowding > most crowded part
thicka1250
thickest1488
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 56 Throuch-oute the thikest of the pres he ȝeid.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke iii. f. 37 Puttyng himself in coumpaignie emong the thickest of the people.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 24 Valiantly fighting among the thickest of the Rebels.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. viii. 259 Henry was..soon again in the thickest of the fight.
II. n. with plural.
5. (from A. 1) = thicket n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > wood or assemblage of trees or shrubs > [noun] > thicket, brake, or brush
shaw755
thicketa1000
thyvela1000
greavec1050
wood-shawc1275
boscagec1400
greenwood shawc1405
thickc1430
brakec1440
shaw of wood1462
queach1486
bush1523
tuft1555
bushment1587
bocage1644
cripple1675
virgult1736
bluffc1752
thick-set1766
sylvagea1774
thicket-maze1813
bosk1815
woodlet1821
rush1822
puckerbrush1867
c825 Vesp. Psalter xxviii [xxix]. 9 Stefn dryhtnes gear~wienden heoretas & biwrah ða ðiccan [L. revelavit condensa].
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) ii. cxxxii. 126 He may not sette the wacches in the thikke ther thei ben.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Fourth Bk. Aeneas (1554) iv. sig. Diiv Amonge the bushye thickes of briar.
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion iii. 42 Where mists and rotten fogs Hang in the gloomie thicks, and make vnstedfast bogs.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 200 A fox..made good his retreat to Sir Thos. Beauchamp's thicks.
1836 L. Hunt in New Monthly Mag. 47 20 The lusty bee..dances in the bloomy thicks with darksome antheming.
6. colloquial and slang (originally Schoolboys'). A thick-headed or stupid person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > stupid person, dolt, blockhead > [noun]
asseOE
sotc1000
beastc1225
long-ear?a1300
stock1303
buzzard1377
mis-feelinga1382
dasarta1400
stonea1400
dasiberd14..
dottlec1400
doddypoll1401
dastardc1440
dotterel1440
dullardc1440
wantwit1449
jobardc1475
nollc1475
assheada1500
mulea1500
dull-pate15..
peak1509
dulbert?a1513
doddy-patec1525
noddypolla1529
hammer-head1532
dull-head?1534
capon1542
dolt1543
blockhead1549
cod's head1549
mome1550
grout-head1551
gander1553
skit-brains?1553
blocka1556
calfa1556
tomfool1565
dunce1567
druggard1569
cobble1570
dummel1570
Essex calf1573
jolthead1573
hardhead1576
beetle-head1577
dor-head1577
groutnoll1578
grosshead1580
thickskin1582
noddyship?1589
jobbernowl1592
beetle-brain1593
Dorbel1593
oatmeal-groat1594
loggerhead1595
block-pate1598
cittern-head1598
noddypoop1598
dorbellist1599
numps1599
dor1601
stump1602
ram-head1605
look-like-a-goose1606
ruff1606
clod1607
turf1607
asinego1609
clot-poll1609
doddiea1611
druggle1611
duncecomb1612
ox-head1613
clod-polla1616
dulman1615
jolterhead1620
bullhead1624
dunderwhelpa1625
dunderhead1630
macaroona1631
clod-patea1635
clota1637
dildo1638
clot-pate1640
stupid1640
clod-head1644
stub1644
simpletonian1652
bottle-head1654
Bœotiana1657
vappe1657
lackwit1668
cudden1673
plant-animal1673
dolt-head1679
cabbage head1682
put1688
a piece of wood1691
ouphe1694
dunderpate1697
numbskull1697
leather-head1699
nocky1699
Tom Cony1699
mopus1700
bluff-head1703
clod skull1707
dunny1709
dowf1722
stupe1722
gamphrel1729
gobbin?1746
duncehead1749
half-wit1755
thick-skull1755
jackass1756
woollen-head1756
numbhead1757
beef-head1775
granny1776
stupid-head1792
stunpolla1794
timber-head1794
wether heada1796
dummy1796
noghead1800
staumrel1802
muttonhead1803
num1807
dummkopf1809
tumphya1813
cod's head and shoulders1820
stoopid1823
thick-head1824
gype1825
stob1825
stookiea1828
woodenhead1831
ning-nong1832
log-head1834
fat-head1835
dunderheadism1836
turnip1837
mudhead1838
donkey1840
stupex1843
cabbage1844
morepork1845
lubber-head1847
slowpoke1847
stupiditarian1850
pudding-head1851
cod's head and shoulders1852
putty head1853
moke1855
mullet-head1855
pothead1855
mug1857
thick1857
boodle1862
meathead1863
missing link1863
half-baked1866
lunk1867
turnip-head1869
rummy1872
pumpkin-head1876
tattie1879
chump1883
dully1883
cretin1884
lunkhead1884
mopstick1886
dumbhead1887
peanut head1891
pie-face1891
doughbakea1895
butt-head1896
pinhead1896
cheesehead1900
nyamps1900
box head1902
bonehead1903
chickenhead1903
thickwit1904
cluck1906
boob1907
John1908
mooch1910
nitwit1910
dikkop1913
goop1914
goofus1916
rumdum1916
bone dome1917
moron1917
oik1917
jabroni1919
dumb-bell1920
knob1920
goon1921
dimwit1922
ivory dome1923
stone jug1923
dingleberry1924
gimp1924
bird brain1926
jughead1926
cloth-head1927
dumb1928
gazook1928
mouldwarp1928
ding-dong1929
stupido1929
mook1930
sparrow-brain1930
knobhead1931
dip1932
drip1932
epsilon1932
bohunkus1933
Nimrod1933
dumbass1934
zombie1936
pea-brain1938
knot-head1940
schlump1941
jarhead1942
Joe Soap1943
knuckle-head1944
nong1944
lame-brain1945
gobshite1946
rock-head1947
potato head1948
jerko1949
turkey1951
momo1953
poop-head1955
a right one1958
bam1959
nong-nong1959
dickhead1960
dumbo1960
Herbert1960
lamer1961
bampot1962
dipshit1963
bamstick1965
doofus1965
dick1966
pillock1967
zipperhead1967
dipstick1968
thickie1968
poephol1969
yo-yo1970
doof1971
cockhead1972
nully1973
thicko1976
wazzock1976
motorhead1979
mouth-breather1979
no-brainer1979
jerkwad1980
woodentop1981
dickwad1983
dough ball1983
dickweed1984
bawheid1985
numpty1985
jerkweed1988
dick-sucker1989
knob-end1989
Muppet1989
dingus1997
dicksack1999
eight ball-
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. vii. 167 What a thick I was to come.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 393 I'm such a thick, I never should have had time for both.
1891 R. G. K. Wrench Winchester Word-bk. He is not a thick, but he won't mug.
1925 S. O'Casey Juno & Paycock iii, in Two Plays 97 The thick made out the Will wrong.
1960 B. Moore Luck of Ginger Coffey vii. 123 Ha, Ha! cried all the countrified young thicks he had gone to school with.
1970 G. Lord Marshmallow Pie iii. 28 Some of those thicks in Earls Court would do it just for the kicks.
7. A thick fog. Cf. sense A. 7a. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun] > thick mist or fog > very thick fog
pea-soup fog1849
pea-souper1890
thick1936
1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep ii. 35 Out of the marshes a fog crept which the gunners call a ‘thick’.
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1463/1 Thick, in the, in, esp. caught in, a thick fog: R.A.F. (operational ‘types’): since ca. 1930.
Compounds
C1. Phrases. See thick adv. 6; thick and thin n., adv., and adj.
thick and threefold adj. (see thick adv. 6c).
C2.
a. Combinations. Chiefly parasynthetic adjectives; these can be formed at pleasure; the following are specimens. See also thick-headed adj., thick-skinned adj., thick-skulled adj., etc.
(a) † thick-breathed adj. Obsolete † thick-shadowed adj. Obsolete† thick-toothed adj. Obsolete
thick-ankled adj. Having thick ankles.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > ankle > [adjective]
ankled1572
tarsal1817
thick-ankled1897
1897 F. T. Palgrave in H. Tennyson Alfred Ld. Tennyson: Mem. II. 505 In these, he [sc. Ld. Tennyson] would say, ‘Wordsworth seemed to him thick-ankled’.
thick-barred adj. Having thick bars.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > [adjective] > closed or shut > securely
fastOE
strong?a1300
well-closed?a1425
thick-barred1753
1753 E. Young Brothers v. i Ye thick-barr'd sunless passages for air.
thick-bedded adj.
ΚΠ
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 96 Slate abounding in tin is uniformly of a thick-bedded, deep-blue colour.
thick-billed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > having beak or bill > of particular shape
long-billed1594
latirostrous1646
bill-twisteda1657
spoon-billed1668
hook-billed1695
slender-billed1769
thick-billed1770
bow-beaked1791
boat-billed1821
slender-beaked1824
tenuirostral1837
broad-billed1839
planirostrate1858
tenuirostrate1860
planirostral1890
1770 G. White Let. 21 May in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 131 The bird you kept..abides all the year, and is a thick-billed bird.
1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. 148 Thick-billed Gr[osbeak]. Size of a Bulfinch: length five inches three quarters.
1897 W. R. Ogilvie-Grant Game-birds II. 151 The Thick-billed Partridges. Genus Odontophorus.
1939 F. C. Lincoln Migration Amer. Birds 103 As an exemplar of vagrant migration from south to north, the Thick-billed Parrot may be cited.
1980 Cyrus & Robson Bird Atlas of Natal 274 Thick-billed Weaver..inhabits coastal bush.
thick-blooded adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood > types of blood > [adjective] > having thick
thick-blooded1888
1888 C. M. Doughty Trav. Arabia Deserta I. 471 A little of that thick-blooded unforbearing, which was in her family, with her own elder son.
thick-bodied adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > broad shape or physique > [adjective]
stalworthc1175
thicka1250
stubblea1300
quarryc1300
stalworthyc1300
stoura1350
sturdyc1386
buirdlya1400
squarec1430
couragec1440
craskc1440
substantialc1460
ample1485
stalwart1508
puddinga1540
full-bodied1588
robust1666
two-handed1687
swankinga1704
strapping1707
broad-set1708
thick-set1724
throddy?1748
thick-bodied1752
broad-built1771
junky1825
swankie1838
stodgy1854
wide-bodied1854
beefish1882
hunky1911
buff1982
buffed1986
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 110 The long-legged and thick-bodied, small, green Lacerta.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 314 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV Small, thick-bodied butterflies.
thick-bossed adj.
ΚΠ
1844 E. B. Barrett Duchess May in Poems II. 93 Though in passion ye would dash..Up against the thick-bossed shield of God's judgment in the field.
thick-bottomed adj.
thick-brained adj. (In sense A. 9b.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
1619 M. Drayton Sacrifice Apollo in Poems 290 The thick-brayn'd Audience liuely to awake.
ΚΠ
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vi. 106 It..is for them that be short and thicke breathed, the..greatest remedy.
thick-coated adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [adjective] > having skin of particular type
thick-coated1626
thin-skinned1707
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §318 A Pomegranate or some such thick-coated fruit.
thick-fingered adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > digit > finger > [adjective] > having thick
thick-fingered1874
1874 ‘M. Twain’ Let. 9 Dec. (1917) I. xiv. 238 I am so thick-fingered that I miss the keys.
thick-fleeced adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [adjective] > covered > thickly
well-coveredc1430
thick-shelleda1657
well-spread1656
thick-fleeced1864
1864 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 136 Thick-fleeced bushes like a heifer's ear.
1924 E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty xxvi. 95 As lovely as the thick-fleeced waters.
thick-foliaged adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > plant defined by leaves > [adjective] > having abundant or luxuriant foliage
well-leaved1567
thick-leaved1582
fertile-fresha1616
blind1717
thick-foliaged1827
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxvii. 177 Clumps of thick-foliaged trees.
thick-haired adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > bushy, thick > having
shaggeda1000
roughOE
thick-hairedc1405
busheda1513
bush-haired1530
maned1530
bush-headed1552
shack-haired1555
mop-headed?1566
shag-haired1577
shag-hair1584
shaggyc1590
rug-headed1597
hirsute1621
hobby-headeda1625
shock1681
shocky1698
shock-head1842
tousled-headed1860
tousle-haired1880
flock-headed1891
thick-piled1976
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1660 Some helden with hym with the blake berd Some wt the balled, some wt the thikke herd.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads ii. 40 The thick-hair'd Greeks.
thick-hided adj.
thick-hidedness n.
ΚΠ
1861 C. Kingsley Lett. (1877) II. 132 But the mass will not have ——'s courage or thick-hidedness.
thick-jawed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > jaws > [adjective] > conditions or positions of > having
underhung1683
thick-jawed1689
underjawed1772
jimber-jawed1834
prognathous1836
wapper-jawed1848
prognathic1850
orthognathic1851
orthognathous1851
whopper-jawed1860
macrognathous1864
underhanging1865
macrognathic1874
eurygnathous1878
mesognathous1878
overshot1879
prosognathous1890
mesognathic1892
jut-jawed1943
1689 London Gaz. No. 2415/4 A Young Slender Horse 5 years old,..thick Jawed.
thick-knobbed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > protuberance or rounded projection > [adjective] > having (a) protuberance(s) > having (a) knob(s)
knoppedc1394
knobbed1440
thick-knobbed1861
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations xxviii, in All Year Round 23 Mar. 556/2 Their keeper..carried a thick-knobbed bludgeon.
thick-legged adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [adjective] > types of > having
jamby?a1400
well-legged1566
spindle-shankedc1600
spindle-shank1604
post-legged1608
splay-legged1638
duck-legged1650
stalk-legged1659
long-limbed1660
sharp-shinned1704
spindle-legged1710
leggy1776
red-legged1817
flamingo-legged1862
thick-legged1873
split-up1874
pin-legged1884
lank-legged1906
straddly1921
1873 J. Brown Let. 23 June (1912) 280 Uig is a pretty snug little bay, with its tidy Inn and its thick-legged, humorous landlord, John Urquhart.
thick-lensed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > aids to defective vision > [adjective] > types of spectacles
steel-rimmeda1400
steelbowed1606
young1667
near-sighted1796
trifocal1826
steel-bow1834
pantoscopic1836
window glass1885
bifocal1888
horn-rimmed1894
pebbled1928
thick-lensed1946
single-vision1962
wire-rim1968
wire-frame1977
Lennon1984
1946 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh i. 4 He has black eyes which peer near-sightedly from behind thick-lensed spectacles.
1973 J. Goodfield Courier to Peking ii. 23 A short, squat person with thick-lensed glasses.
thick-lugged adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [adjective] > types of ear > having
crop-eared1530
slouch-eared1556
well-hung1611
round-eared1615
prick-eared1641
nick-eared1834
tip-eared1880
thick-lugged1922
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xii. [Cyclops] 311 The curse of a goodfornothing God light sideways on the bloody thicklugged sons of whores' gets!
thick-necked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > neck > [adjective] > types of neck > having
neckeda1398
bull necked?a1400
well-necked?1548
thick-necked1591
lean-necked1608
swan-necked1703
crane-necked1822
pencil-neck1868
no-neck1955
pencil-necked1956
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Cervigudo Thicke necked.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes v. 310 There is the same burly thicknecked strength of body as of soul.
thick-piled adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > floor-covering > [adjective] > covered with a carpet > type of carpet
ingrain1836
thick-piled1853
Yarkand1880
Tekke1900
washed1911
Transylvanian1915
Herati1931
Lotto1931
Seljuk1931
shag pile1946
tufted1960
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > bushy, thick > having
shaggeda1000
roughOE
thick-hairedc1405
busheda1513
bush-haired1530
maned1530
bush-headed1552
shack-haired1555
mop-headed?1566
shag-haired1577
shag-hair1584
shaggyc1590
rug-headed1597
hirsute1621
hobby-headeda1625
shock1681
shocky1698
shock-head1842
tousled-headed1860
tousle-haired1880
flock-headed1891
thick-piled1976
1853 M. Arnold Sohrab & Rustum in Poems (new ed.) 6 Upon the thick-pil'd carpets in the tent.
1976 Sounds 11 Dec. His hair, short at the sides and thickpiled high on top, makes him look faintly ridiculous.
thick-ribbed adj.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 123 To recide In thrilling Region of thicke-ribbed Ice. View more context for this quotation
thick-rimmed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > [adjective] > having an edge or border > of specific kind > specific
fringed1495
hard-edged1589
feathery1792
brown-edged1830
fringy1831
vallate1878
thick-rimmed1976
1976 ‘R. Gordon’ Doctor on Job iii. 18 A small, round, well-scrubbed looking man in a grey business suit and thick-rimmed glasses.
thick-rinded adj.
ΚΠ
a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Civv And thickest shadowed groues.
thick-shelled adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [adjective] > outer covering > having or like a shell
shellc1440
shelled1577
shelly1593
hard-shelled1599
soft-shelled1611
thick-shelleda1657
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [adjective] > covered > thickly
well-coveredc1430
thick-shelleda1657
well-spread1656
thick-fleeced1864
the world > animals > birds > egg > [adjective] > having a thick shell
thick-shelled1804
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia in Poems (1878) The Author 8 To stoope at the thick-Shell'd Dorrs of Obiection.
1804 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds II. 276 The female..lays..six or seven thick-shelled white eggs.
thick-shouldered adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > back > shoulder > [adjective] > types of
house-shouldered1552
huff-shouldered1590
broad-shouldered1591
thick-shouldered1965
1965 J. A. Michener Source (1966) 564 And he knelt in the boat, a thick-shouldered, heavy-necked, sandy-haired German seeking God.
thick-soled adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > [adjective] > with sole > with specific type of sole
corked1519
single-soled1541
well-soled1663
thick-soled1815
crêpe-soled1935
platform-soled1938
wedge-soled1939
creepers1961
Vibram-soled1963
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. xi. 210 His rough coat and thick-soled boots.
thick-stemmed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [adjective] > having a stem or stalk > of certain size, shape, length, or colour
gross1578
zigzag1793
thick-stemmed1847
leggy1860
1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 55 You ask..what guide, Me through trackless thickets led, Through thick-stemmed woodlands.
thick-toed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > digit > toe > [adjective] > having thick
thick-toed1851
1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions i. §3. 70 Thick-toed tridactylous birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > types or spec. teeth > [adjective] > thick
thick-toothed1552
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Thycke tothed, or stronge tothed, dentatus.
thick-topped adj.
thick-voiced adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > indistinct
thicka1398
undistinguished1595
obscure1656
muddy1841
thick-voiced1859
slushy1861
thick-speaking1861
woolly1872
stuffy1889
far-away1897
1859 K. Cornwallis Panorama New World I. 63 A very stout, thick-set, thick-voiced Yorkshireman.
thick-walled adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > building of specific construction > [adjective]
wandedc1593
brick-built1596
rock-built1596
mud-walled1607
sedgy1624
sodden1639
nogged1688
frame1760
logged1784
stucco1786
weatherboarded1794
piled1795
thick-walled1820
clapboarded1835
board-built1837
pebble-dashed1839
puncheoned1843
timber-framed1843
betimbered1847
pile-built1851
massy1855
bamboo-walled1858
portable1860
half-timber1874
stone-faced1874
Red River frame1879
ashlared1881
granolithic1881
brick-end1883
converted1888
steel frame1898
board-and-bat1902
traviated1902
steel-framed1906
prefabricated1921
prefab1937
multiwall1940
pre-engineered1955
curtain-walled1959
pre-fabbed1959
timber-frame1967
system-built1968
flat-pack1982
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > specific areas or structures > [adjective] > outer covering > thin or thick-walled
thick-walled1820
thin-walled1854
1820 M. Edgeworth Let. 26 Dec. (1971) 231 Old thick-walled mansions.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 484 The very thick-walled mother-cells do not become isolated.
thick-woolled adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [adjective] > of parts of > having a fleece > of a specific kind
well-woolled1577
woolled1577
honey-woolled1607
good-woolled1778
thick-woolled1913
1913 W. de la Mare Peacock Pie 85 Roasting a thick-wooled mountain sheep Upon an iron spit.
(b)
thick-looking adj. Looking or seeming thick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > thickness > [adjective] > thick > having thick appearance
thick-looking1849
1849 Sketches Nat. Hist.: Mammalia III. 197 Forster's Sea-Lion..everywhere equally thick-looking, as Buffon describes it, like a great cylinder.
b. Special combinations and collocations. Also thick-head n., thick-knee n., etc. † thick letter n. Typography Obsolete type cast too thick: see quot.† thick listed adj. [list n.1] Obsolete hard of hearing.
thick-back n. in full thickback sole, a flatfish, Microchirus variegatus, found in the Mediterranean and off western European coasts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Soleidae (soles) > member of genus Microchirus
thick-back1864
1864 J. Couch Hist. Fishes Brit. Islands III. 203 The Thickback seldom exceeds the length of eight or nine inches.
1896 J. T. Cunningham Nat. Hist. Marketable Marine Fishes Brit. Isles 259 The Thickback... Pectoral fins very small.
1925 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 198 The Thickback Sole..is brownish-red, with six or seven dark bands running across the body.
1969 A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.-W. Europe 557/1 The thickback sole is found rather more offshore.
1969 A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.-W. Europe 557/2 The thickback makes a very minor contribution to fishery landings of ‘soles’, but its flesh is of high quality.
thick-bill n. (a) a local name of the bullfinch; (b) a South African bird (see quot. 1899).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Carduelinae > genus Pyrrhula (bullfinch)
alpa1425
owpe?a1513
bullfinch1570
awbe1576
nope1611
mawp1654
woop1668
hoop1669
pope1763
tawny1847
thick-bill1847
leaf-finch1869
plum bird1879
plum-budder1879
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Thick-bill, the bullfinch. Lanc.
1899 R. B. Woodward & J. D. S. Woodward Natal Birds 79 We usually call this bird [Amblyospiza albifrons] the Hawfinch... The boys call it Thick-bill.
thick coal n. see quot.; hence thick-coalman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > [noun] > stratum or bed > of coal > type of coal seam
foot coal1665
foot-rid1665
top coal1803
ten-yard coal1839
rider1840
ten-foot coal1855
top-hard1855
yard-coal1855
yard-seam1862
guide seam1867
main1867
bank1881
rearer1883
thick coal1883
thick seam1883
thin seam1883
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Thick Coals or Thick Seams, coal seams of greater thickness than (say) 8 or 10 feet... The Thick coal of South Staffordshire is about 28 or 30 feet thick.
1894 Daily News 7 May 8/4 The new scale will give 1d per ton rise in thick-coalmen's wages for every 1½d advance in the price of thick coal.
thick ear n. an ear swollen or numbed by a sharp blow; usually in phrases, as to give (someone) a thick ear; also spec. used attributively to designate literature, etc., marked by rough violence and horseplay, or the writers of such material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking on specific part of the body > strike on specific part of the body [verb (intransitive)] > on the head > on the ear
to give (someone) a thick ear1909
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [noun] > types of ear
lug1602
prick ears1641
cauliflower ear1909
thick ear1909
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > playwriting > [noun] > playwright > of specific types of play
comicar1523
comedy writer1549
comic1549
comediant1568
comediographer1576
comedian1580
comic poet1589
mimograph1623
mimographer1638
mimic1654
mono-dramatist1803
melodramatist1812
farcer1813
comedist1819
farceur1889
thesis-playwright1902
thick ear1909
music-dramatist1947
compressionist1961
psychodramatist1973
1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 243/2 Thick ear.
1915 Truth 4 Aug. 190/2 Tommy knew..that to ask his father for help was merely to ask for what his son would have called ‘a thick ear’.
1922 A. Haddon Green Room Gossip ix. 248 ‘A thick-ear play’ was Sir Gerald du Maurier's description of ‘Bull-dog Drummond’.
1943 Gen 2 Jan. 28/1 A member of the thick-ear fraternity.
1978 Lancashire Life Oct. 83/2 Ah geet a reyt thick ear yon time Ah tarned sheets in a tangle!
1981 N. Tucker Child & Bk. v. 133 One particular favourite type of comic—referred to in the trade as the ‘thick-ear market’—is chiefly concerned with crude, knockabout humour.
thick end n. the greater part of anything (colloquial and dialect).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a great part or proportion > the greater part, the majority
the more partOE
the best part ofOE
(the) more parta1350
(the) most parta1350
(the) most part alla1350
(the) most party1372
for (also be, in) the most part (also deal, party)a1387
the better part ofa1393
the mo?a1400
most forcea1400
substancea1413
corsec1420
generalty?c1430
the greater partc1430
three quartersc1470
generalityc1485
the most feck1488
corpse1533
most1553
nine-tenths?1556
better half1566
generality?1570
pluralityc1570
body1574
the great body (of)1588
flush1592
three fourths1600
best1601
heap1609
gross1625
lump1709
bulk1711
majority1714
nineteen in twenty1730
balance1747
sweighta1800
heft1816
chief1841
the force1842
thick end1847
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words (at cited word) ‘The thick-end of a mile’. Linc.
1865 W. White Eastern Eng. II. 66 When he spoke of the thick end of a mile, it reminded me of the ‘thick league’ of a certain rustic whom I once accosted on the sandy wastes of Friesland.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (at cited word) I've gotten th' thick end o' th' job finished wi'.
1938 ‘N. Shute’ Ruined City x. 195 It would be the thick end of that sum before we're cracking as a proper yard again.
1965 P. O'Donnell Modesty Blaise xviii. 196 Willie..tested the weight. ‘It's the thick end of a hundredweight..But I could manage one on me own all right.’
1971 D. Lees Rainbow Conspiracy i. 13 It will take them the thick end of half an hour to get to the Travellers from here.
thick-eyed adj. having obscure vision, dim-sighted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [adjective] > having dimness or poor vision
darkOE
dima1220
bissona1250
murka1300
mistedc1450
obfuscatec1487
spurblind1508
sand-blind1538
dim-sighted1561
blinking1568
dimmed1590
weak-sighteda1591
purblind1592
sand-eyed1592
thick-eyed1598
left-eyed1609
mole-eyed1610
blindish1611
mole-sighted1625
sanded1629
veiled1633
weak-eyed1645
scotomatical1656
mole-blinda1660
swimming1697
wavering1842
foggy1847
scotomatous1866
clouding1868
wall-eyed1873
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. iv. 46 Thicke eyde musing, and curst melancholy.
1684 London Gaz. No. 1976/4 A gray Horse, Milk white about the Mouth and Tail,..all his Paces, thickeyed.
Categories »
thick intestine n. Entomology in some insects, a dilatation of the posterior end of the ileum, forming a large blind sac turned back towards the ventricules.
thick-knit adj. designating a garment knitted from wool of greater thickness than double knitting; also absol. as n., a thick-knit sweater.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > made in specific way > knitted
pointelle1892
quick-knit1935
thick-knit1961
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jumper or jersey > types of > other
pointelle1892
turtle-neck1897
slip-over1919
polo jersey1925
polo jumper1925
polo sweater1925
Sloppy Joe1942
polo neck1959
thick-knit1961
sweater-shirt1964
skinny-rib1965
skivvy1967
mock1989
1961 Sunday Express 2 Apr. 14 Thickknit cover-up, full-fashioned in..zig-zag rib.
1976 J. Fleming To make Underworld xii. 138 The three Irishmen, ill-disguised as sailors or fishermen in their thick-knits.
thick-leaf n. a name of plants of the genus Crassula.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Crassulaceae (stonecrop and allies) > [noun] > stonecrop
sengreenc1000
stonecropc1000
orpine?a1300
orval?a1300
mouse grassc1300
stonehorea1400
Crassulac1400
sedumc1440
thrift1538
prick-madam1542
mousetail1548
livelong1578
wall pepper1578
worm-grass1578
country pepper1597
jack of the buttery1597
pricket1597
stone-pepper1597
trick-madam1600
trip-madam1693
midsummer mena1697
rosewort1725
roseroot1731
live forever1760
ice plant1818
wall moss1855
Jacka1876
wall grass1882
thick-leaf1884
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Thick-leaf, the genus Crassula.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > [noun] > cast too thick
thick letter1683
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. Dict. 392 A Fount of Letter that Rubs not high enough into the Neck is called Thick Letter; and consequently will Drive out Matter.
ΚΠ
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 129 Deue we ben, oðer þicke liste, þanne we heren speke godes word and nimeð þer to litel geme.]
1579 T. Twyne tr. Petrarch Phisicke against Fortune ii. xcvii. 289 They that are thicke listed, seeme in a maner to be out of their wittes.
thick register n. the lowest register of the voice.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [noun] > register > lowest
thick register1905
1905 J. Heywood Music in Churches 17 Average choir boys cannot recite on a low note without being liable to use the thick register or chest voice instead of the medium register, and the use of their lower mechanism is usually accompanied with..coarseness of tone.
thick sandwich n. (also thick sandwich course) a sandwich course (see sandwich n.2 1b) with an extended theoretical component between two periods of practical instruction (see quot. 19622).
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > means of teaching > [noun] > class or course > types of
summer session1594
evening class1762
summer school1793
training course1822
shop class1844
elective1850
optional1855
night class1870
correspondence class1876
Chautauqua1884
correspondence course1902
gut1902
holiday course1906
shop1912
pud1917
training seminar1917
film school1929
day school1931
refresher1939
farm shop1941
survey course1941
weekend course1944
crash programme1947
sandwich course1955
thick sandwich1962
module1966
bird course1975
1962 Engineering 13 July 57/2 The 1-3-1 type of ‘thick sandwich’ course (one year in industry, three years at university, and one year in industry again).
1962 Engineering 26 Oct. 555 A pre-university year in industry (as in 1:3:1 thick sandwiches).
1978 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 126 549/1 A sandwich course such as the ‘thick’ sandwich, where you do one year in industry, three years at university and then one year back in industry.
thick seam n. a seam of ‘thick coal’; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > [noun] > stratum or bed > of coal > type of coal seam
foot coal1665
foot-rid1665
top coal1803
ten-yard coal1839
rider1840
ten-foot coal1855
top-hard1855
yard-coal1855
yard-seam1862
guide seam1867
main1867
bank1881
rearer1883
thick coal1883
thick seam1883
thin seam1883
1883 [see thick coal n.].
1892 Daily News 25 Jan. 2/6 The leading thick~seam pits are sending a large tonnage to Hull and Grimsby.
thick space n. Typography a third of an em space used in separating words; cf. thin space n. at thin adj., n., and adv. Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > space left intentionally > wide space between words
pigeonhole1683
thick space1683
justifier1755
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 99 Some [letters] are Space thick; that is, one quarter so thick as the Body is high; though Spaces are seldom Cast so,..and therefore..we shall call these Spaces, Thick Spaces.
1808 C. Stower Printer's Gram. iii. 90 Of Spaces... They are cast to various thicknesses... Three to an m—or three thick spaces.
1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-offset ii. 12 The thick space and middle space are a third and a quarter respectively of the width of the em quad.
thick-spaced adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [adjective] > spacing of words or letters
spaced1808
thick-spaced1824
letter-spaced1901
1824 J. Johnson Typographia II. 132 A d and an h..will admit an addition, but not more than a middle and thin space to a thick spaced line.
1893 H. Hart Rules for Compositors 22 When the last line but one of a paragraph is widely spaced and the first line of the following paragraph is also more than thick-spaced.
thick-stamen n. (see quot.), a small genus of prostrate euphorbiaceous plants, the Alleghany Mountain Spurge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > other non-British shrubs
Pachysandra1813
Pieris1855
thick-stamen1878
1878 T. Meehan Native Flowers & Ferns U.S. I. 30 The stamens have remarkably thick filaments, and this suggested its botanical name Pachysandra, which is the Greek for ‘thick-stamen’.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants American Thick-stamen, Pachysandra procumbens.
thick-stuff n. see quot. 1850.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > timber in pieces > piece of specific size > collectively
quartering1703
quarter-stuff1712
thick-stuff1769
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Building The thick stuff, or strong planks of the bottom within-board.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 155 Thickstuff, a name for sided timber exceeding 4 inches, but not being more than 12 inches, in thickness.
thick tea n. high tea (local).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > tea
tea1738
high tea1787
tea and turn out1806
supper1818
tousy tea1835
meat tea1842
thé complet1856
low tea1883
thick tea1886
tea-supper1892
cream tea1964
1886 ‘S. Coolidge’ What Katy did Next xi. 305 The month's housekeeping wound up that night with a ‘thick tea’.
1893 Daily News 1 June 5/2 Perhaps something might have been said for the compromise of a thick tea.
1896 Daily News 18 Dec. 3/6 The ‘thick teas’ of Lancashire have long been celebrated for their eccentricity.
thick-tongued adj. speaking thickly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > defective or inarticulate speech > [adjective]
short-tonguedc1575
cluttering1748
thick-tongued1887
1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 370 Though thick-tongued still, she spoke more clearly.
thick wind n. in Farriery, laborious breathing, usually due to previous inflammation; hence thick-winded adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [adjective] > respiratory disorders
pursick1303
pursivea1425
pursy1440
roaring1509
broken-winded?1523
wind-broken1603
crack-winded1680
thick-windeda1694
musical1831
bellows to mend1854
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > respiratory disorders
wind?1523
pursick1566
pursickness1610
roaring1813
heaves1828
broken wind1831
thick wind1831
whistling1856
a1694 Life M. Robinson (1856) 35 He was thickwinded and ungovernable.
1704 London Gaz. No. 3981/4 A..Mare,..thick Winded.
1831 W. Youatt Horse x. 193 Thick-wind consists in short, frequent, and laborious breathings, and especially when the animal is in exercise.
1831 W. Youatt Horse x. 193 Heavy draught horses are..thick winded.
thick woods n. Canadian = strong wood, variant of strong woods n. at strong adj. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [noun] > wooded land > types of
ripplelOE
wildwooda1122
rough1332
firth?a1400
tod stripec1446
osiard1509
bush1523
bush-ground1523
fritha1552
island1638
oak landc1658
pinelandc1658
piney wood1666
broom-land1707
pine barrenc1721
pine savannah1735
savannah1735
thick woods1754
scrub-land1779
olive wood1783
primeval forest1789
open wood1790
strong woods1792
scrub1805
oak flata1816
sertão1816
sprout-land1824
flatwoods1841
bush-land1842
tall timber1845
amber forest1846
caatinga1846
mahogany scrub1846
bush-flat1847
myall country1847
national forest1848
selva1849
monte1851
virgin forest1851
bush-country1855
savannah forest1874
bush-range1879
bushveld1879
protection forest1889
mulga1896
wood-bush1896
shinnery1901
fringing forest1903
monsoon forest1903
rainforest1903
savannah woodland1903
thorn forest1903
tropical rainforest1903
gallery forest1920
cloud forest1922
rain jungle1945
mato1968
1754 A. Hendry Jrnl. 2 Dec. in Trans. Royal Soc. Canada (1907) 1 ii. 343 Strong gale with Snow & Sleet. Obliged to remove into thick woods.
1865 Visct. Milton & W. B. Cheadle N.-W. Passage by Land xii. 223 We had thirteen horses to pack and drive through the thick woods.
1957 C. Harris Cariboo Trail 137 The gold-seekers had arrived at the fort after making their way through the thickwoods.
Draft additions September 2022
Of a person's accent: strong, broad, marked (hence sometimes with implication of being difficult to understand). Cf. sense A. 8.Also in figurative and similative contexts (cf. quot. 1826).Occasionally (also) with reference to a person's use of dialectal vocabulary or grammar.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > accent > [adjective] > of particular accents
broad?1533
plum-in-the-mouth1553
strong1735
educated1838
Kensingtonian1902
Morningside1953
cut glass1962
lock-jawed1974
1802 Carlisle Jrnl. 13 Mar. 4/1 The first singer, Madame Strina-Sacchi, executes some passages with taste; but she speaks with a thick Bolognese accent, and her person and manner are by no means captivating.
1826 John Bull 29 Oct. 348/3 A brogue thick enough to be cut with a knife.
1944 Yale Rev. June 667 He spoke with a thick Southern drawl.
1947 Billboard 2 Aug. 13/2 The teacher had a thick Teutonic accent complete with rolling r's.
1985 C. Black Step Inside 110 Our Jack, who's four, talks to visitors in Southern English, but for me he goes into thick Scouse.
2008 ‘R. Coltrane’ & R. Uhlig B-road Brit. vi. 104 ‘We like to keep our Polish traditions,’ he says in a thick Brummie accent that he must have picked up since moving here.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online December 2022).
thickv.
/θɪk/, U.S. /θɪk/ Now rare or Obsolete.† 2. To make (cloth, etc.) close in texture by fulling; = thicken v. 5. Obsolete.† 4. intransitive. To move thickly or in crowds; to flock, crowd. Obsolete. rare.† 5. reflexive. [ < thick n. 5.] To get into the thick of any place; to hide. Obsolete. rare.
1. transitive. To make dense in consistence. archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > state of being thick enough to retain form > give consistency to [verb (transitive)] > coagulate
thickc1000
runlOE
quaila1398
congealc1400
curd?a1425
thickenc1425
coagulec1550
clumper1562
curdle1585
clutter1601
quarl1607
coagulate1611
posseta1616
sam1615
concrete1635
earn1670
clotter1700
cotter1781
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) xxxvii. 220 Denso..and denseo.., ic ðiccige.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum iv. ii. (Tollem. MS.) It [melancholy] þikkeþ þe blood, þat it fleteþ nouȝt from digestion by clernesse and þinnesse.
c1440 Anc. Cookery in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 430 Let hit boyle and thyck hit with floure of ryse.
1526 Grete Herball cxlii. sig. Iijv/2 A moysture that by the heet of the sonne is thycked,..and torned to a gōmy substaunce.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 172 Thoughts, that would thick my blood. View more context for this quotation
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. B2 You thick that veil, and so your selves array With visibility.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Mariner (rev. ed.) iii, in Sibylline Leaves 14 The Night-Mair Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > treat or process textile fabric [verb (transitive)] > full
full1383
cloth-walk1467
thick1482
mill1552
1482 Rolls of Parl. VI. 223/2 Made, wrought, fulled and thikked, by the myghte and strengh of men.
1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII c. 6 §1 The Walker and Fuller shall truely walke fulle thikke and werke every webbe of wollen yerne.
1566 Act 8 Eliz. c. 11 §2 That no person..shall thicke or full in any Myll..any Cappe vntyll suche tyme as the same Cappe be first..half thicked..in the Footestocke.
1720 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth VI. 92 The Water..over-thicks my Cloth.
3. † b. ? To become frequent or prevalent. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To become thick, in various senses; = thicken v. Now dialect or archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > become (more) dense or solid [verb (intransitive)]
thicka1000
starkOE
congealc1400
starken?a1513
concrease1578
thicken1598
knit1605
condensate1607
fix1626
saddena1642
concretea1676
incrassate1733
solidify1837
consolidate1885
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > become viscous or thicken [verb (intransitive)]
thicka1000
encrass1611
inspissate1756
plaster1812
viscidize1859
gum1874
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [verb (intransitive)]
thicka1000
thicken1784
duff1876
to come down1891
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [verb (intransitive)] > in intensity or degree
waxc897
reforce1490
rise1594
fortify1605
strengthena1616
harden1625
intend1655
thicken1672
exasperate1742
intensify1853
thick1879
to hot up1922
to build up1936
a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 219/7 Densescit, spissat, þiccaþ.
c1290 St. Michael 714 in S. Eng. Leg. 320 Hit þickez to Nye dawes..þanne it tornez formest to flesch.
a1400 K. Alis. (Bodl.) 3841 Þe erþe quaked of her rydyng: Þe weder þicked of her crieyng.
c1450 Two Cookery-bks. 91 Lete hit not boyle til hit thikke.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Mar. 115 But see the Welkin thicks apace.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. (at cited word) T'day's thicking (getting cloudy).
1879 J. D. Long tr. Virgil Æneid ii. 374 The sounds grow clear, The noise of battle thicks.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17476 Ful wa þam was þaa wreches wick, Quen þis tiþand bigan to thik.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > crowd together
thickc1000
pressa1350
empressc1400
shock1548
serry1581
pester1610
serr1683
thicken1726
crush1755
scrouge1798
pack1828
to close up1835
to be packed (in) like sardines1911
scrum1913
c1000 in Cockayne Shrine (1864) 38 Þa þiccodan þider semninga þa ismaheli.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. v. 30 Als gret number thiddir thikkit in feir As..Levis of treis.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid x. vii. 31 Quhar ȝondir sop of men thikkis in a rout.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > conceal oneself [verb (reflexive)]
hidec897
wryOE
shroudc1402
imbosk1562
shrine1570
thick1574
mew1581
burrow1596
dern1604
earth1609
veil1614
ensconcea1616
abscond1626
perdue1694
secrete1764
to stow away1795
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 225 Hauing past three dayes and three nightes, forsaking al high waies, thicked my self in the great desart.
Derivatives
thicked adj. /θɪkt/ thickened; †fulled.
/θɪkt/ thickened; †fulled.ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [adjective] > fulled
waulked1490
milled1558
thicked1604
1604 Compt Bk. D. Wedderburne (S.H.S.) 45 xij ellis & a quarter bred thickit blew worzet clayth.
ˈthicking n. thickening; †fulling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [noun] > fulling
waulkingc1300
fulling1383
thickingc1440
tucking1467
tuckage1612
milling1884
c1440 Anc. Cookery in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 435 Stere hit tyl hit be thyk, and in the thikkynge do the rosted felettes therto.
1482 Rolls of Parl. VI. 223/2 To forfaite and lose xl s., as ofte as eny such persone shall putt to fullyng or thikkyng, or to sale, eny suche Huers, Bonettes or Cappes.
1552–3 Act 7 Edw. VI c. 8 (title) An Acte for the true fulling and thicking of Cappes.
1759 Compl. Let.-writer (ed. 6) 53 The thicking or fulling-mill.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
thickadv.
/θɪk/, U.S. /θɪk/ In a thick manner, thickly. (After many verbs as come, fall, lie, stand, sow, etc., when thick expresses the accompanying or resulting condition, it is often rather an adjective than an adverb; cf. Latin pinus prona cadit; supinus cadere.)
1. † b. figurative. Deeply, severely. Obsolete. rare.† d. After a sum of money: To the extent of (so much), ‘deep’. Obsolete.
a. So as to be thick; to a great depth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > extension downwards or depth > [adverb]
deepOE
profoundly?a1425
deeply1573
thick1670
adeep1850
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 151/22 Pauidensis, ðicce gewefen hrægel.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 3377 Suilk er in þis liue ful thike, Forgetes þe deid for þe quick.
1670 H. Stubbe Plus Ultra 136 We found the passage crusted very thick.
1713 J. Addison Cato i. iii Cato has piercing eyes, and will discern Our frauds, unless they're cover'd thick with art.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. x. 67 The snow..lay thick upon the glacier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adverb] > grievously or extremely
swith971
hardOE
teenfullya1375
foullya1400
thickc1400
violently?a1425
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 6 Quo for þro may noȝt þole, þe þikker he sufferes.
c. to lay it on thick, (figurative) to do something with vehemence or excess. Cf. to lay on 6 at lay v.1 Phrasal verbs. Also, to put (spread, etc.) it on thick.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > exaggeration, hyperbole > speak or do with exaggeration [phrase]
to go beyond the moon?c1430
to cast beyond the moon1559
to lay on load?1562
to lay it on with a trowela1616
all (his) geese are swans1621
to draw (also pull, shoot) the long bow1667
to lay it on thick1740
to sling (also fling, throw) the hatchet1778
to come it1796
to make a thing about (also of)1813
to draw with the long-bow1823
to pitch it strong1823
to overegg the pudding1845
to put (spread, etc.) it on thick1865
to god it1870
to strong it1964
to stretch it (or things)1965
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > act or do vigorously [verb (intransitive)]
twig1573
to go at ——1675
to go it1794
to come it1796
to lay it on thick1806
to blaze away1826
bushwhack1837
steam1842
split1844
rustle1882
to work like a demon1884
yank1888
go-at-it1904
to go somea1911
to put a jerk in it1919
to go (also do) one's (also a) dinger1923
to work (etc.) one's ass off1924
to go to town1933
to gie (or give) it laldy1974
1740 Champion 29 Jan. (1741) I. 225 You may lay on Honour and Beauty, and all Manner of Virtues as thick as you please.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. i. 9 Lay it on thick, I beg, while your hand is in.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor x, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 276 Lay it on thick, and never mind expences.
1865 ‘M. Twain’ in Californian 6 May 9/3 Don't you think he is spreading it on rather thick?
1888 Mrs. H. Ward Robert Elsmere II. ii. xviii. 112 Henslowe lays it on thick—paints with a will.
1929 A. Christie Seven Dials Myst. xviii. 148 I thought Bundle was laying it on a bit thick myself... But Codders is such an ass he'd swallow anything.
1955 W. C. Gault Ring around Rosa xiv. 165 Now she was putting it on as thick as a starlet at a producer's party.
1976 Times 24 Mar. 3/2 (advt.) If we are laying it on a bit thick it's only because we want you to volunteer out of a mature realisation of what the Army can be like.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [adverb] > to extent of specific sum
thick1570
in six figures1873
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 2142/2 Which then cost the Vniuersitie an hundreth pound thicke.
1592 R. Greene Blacke Bookes Messenger sig. D2 My couetous maister is cheated fortie or fiftie pound thick at one clap.
1592 R. Greene Repentance sig. C3v [Publicans] would make much of me, vntil I were on the score, far more than euer I meant to pay by twenty nobles thick.
2. In a thick, dense, or crowded state; closely, densely, compactly; in crowds or throngs; numerously, abundantly. (See also thick and threefold at sense 6.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [adverb]
manifoldlyeOE
thick971
a-storec1300
rifec1325
thickfolda1400
thicklyc1400
by, in heaps1523
amain1549
numerously1611
frequently1615
sight1836
multitudinously1839
like flies1934
971 Blickl. Hom. 203 Ða flugon þa legetu swylce fyrene strælas..toðæm þicce þæt [etc.].
c1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 234 Eall swa þicce is þeo heofon mid steorrum afylled on dæg swa on niht.
a1175 Cott. Hom. 237 Of þe folce we siggeð þat hit..elce deȝie þicce þringeð.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 26/72 Þut folk a-boute heom cam ase þicke ase huy miȝten go.
c1305 St. Lucy 12 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 101 Þat folc wende þider þicke.
c1400 Brut lxxviii. 79 Þai deide wonder þik wiþin the citee for hunger.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 289 Quarelles & arowes, that flewh so thyk.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viiv The best property..is to sowe all maner of corne thicke ynough.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) 73 When England shall be thicker peopled.
1790 Coll. Voy. round World V. x. 1683 The woods in many places..so thick intersected with boughs and matted with leaves.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xiv. 454 Doubts came thick upon him.
3. In close or rapid succession; frequently; quickly; fast. Often thick and fast. (See also thick and threefold at sense 6.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > [adverb]
unseldea950
oftOE
thickOE
ylomeOE
oftsithec1175
oftsithesc1175
lomec1200
oftlya1225
oft-stounds1303
continuallyc1305
oftena1325
rifely1357
oft-timesc1384
oft-timec1387
oftentimesa1393
oftentimec1395
fele-sitha1400
lightlya1400
oftentide?a1400
rifea1400
seresitha1400
many a foldc1400
often sithec1405
hauntinglyc1440
by many a foldc1450
fele-syss1489
frequently1531
feltymesc1540
oftens1567
oftenly1574
frequent1614
repeatedlya1647
(as) often as not1723
more often (or oftener) than not1723
not uncommonly1747
not infrequently1779
(at) every whip-stitch1824
oftenwhilesa1850
at short intervals1859
OE Genesis 684 Hio spræc him þicce to.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Cleopatras. 655 Ffor strokys whiche that wente as thikke as hayl.
?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 255 She schal nothing say butte ‘Mea culpa, I wylle amende’, whiche sche schal reherse thykke and many tymes.
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 43 The sayd apparaunce & attendaunce commeth so often and thicke together.
1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 28v At midnight one Cocke croweth timely but six,..At three a clocke thicker.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xxi. 210 Great talkers discharge too thick to take alwayes true aim.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 98 He and his Brother Jacks..toss Jests and Oaths about as thick and fast, as Boys do Squibs.
1729 W. Law Serious Call xx. 378 It will perhaps be thought..that these hours of prayer come too thick.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xi. 66 Thick and fast indeed came the events.
4. With confused and indistinct articulation; also, with a husky or hoarse voice.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [adverb] > in a mumbling or indistinct manner
closely1564
mafflingly1565
thick1589
fumblingly1598
mumblingly1662
grumblingly1677
mutteringlyc1681
clippingly1849
amutter1856
splutteringly1941
splodgily1963
slurrily1969
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adverb] > hoarse
hoarselya1529
thick1589
hoarse1709
gruffly1847
croakily1858
throatily1875
roupily1887
1589 Voy. W. Towrson in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 102 These..wordes they speake very thicke.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1623) ii. iii. 24 Speaking thicke (which Nature made his blemish) Became the Accents of the Valiant.
1686 London Gaz. No. 2143/4 He speaks so thick that he is scarce to be understood.
a1791 Tom Line xiii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1884) I. ii. 343/2 Out then spak her father dear, He spak baith thick and milde.
5. With density or thick consistence; densely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > [adverb]
grossly1561
spissly1611
thicka1711
compactly1818
densely1832
a1711 [see thick-clouded adj. at Compounds 4]. 1746 [see thick-streaming adj. at Compounds 4].
1912 N.E.D. at Thick Mod. colloq. The syrup runs thick. The porridge stirs thick.
6. Phrases. to lay it on thick: see 1c. thick and fast: see 3. thick and threefold adv. (n., adj.) phr.† b. With vehemence; fervently, ardently, impetuously. Obsolete. rare.† c. as adj. Abundant and frequent. Obsolete.
a. In large numbers; in quick succession; with rapid iteration. archaic and dialect.
ΚΠ
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clxxxvj When mo newe Testamentes were Imprinted, thei came thicke and threfold into Englande.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxxxiiij There dwell deuylles thycke and threfolde.
a1592 R. Greene Comicall Hist. Alphonsus (1599) i. sig. A4 How that such clients clustred to thy Court By thick and threefold.
1614 J. Day Dyall 218 Our Antipodes of Rome that so much boast of the Fathers, and how they are theirs thicke and threefold.
1711 tr. S. Werenfels Disc. Logomachys 3 Scoffs and Reproaches come thick and threefold.
1872 A. De Morgan Budget of Paradoxes 163 A..writer..who threw aspersions on his opponents thick and threefold.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > excitability of temperament > impetuosity > [adverb]
impetuously1485
in flagrant blood1614
thick and threefold1627
head-foremost1697
hot-headedly1777
head first1839
1627 W. Sclater Briefe Expos. 2 Thess. 295 So thicke and threefold he falles vpon his deuotion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > [adjective]
commona1325
ofta1382
yedera1400
oftena1450
thick?c1450
repeated1577
obvious1586
crebrousc1600
frequent1604
thick and threefold1615
oftentime1876
oft-time1895
1615 J. Day Festivals 302 The Commendations given Anna here are thicke and threefold.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 242 This thick and threefold companionship with [the] birch was not the only rub.
Compounds
In combination with participles (with hyphen, or as single words); forming adjectives, usually of obvious meaning, unlimited in number. C1. (In sense 1.)
thick-blown adj.
ΚΠ
1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd i. ii The thick-blawn wreaths of snaw.
thick-mined adj.
ΚΠ
1957 C. Day Lewis Pegasus 35 The rescuer plunging through some thick-mined region Who cannot rescue and is not to die.
thick-plied adj.
ΚΠ
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes vi. 359 The thick-plied perversions which distort our image of Cromwell.
thick-spread adj.
ΚΠ
1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe i. 4 Of thick-sprung Lances in a waving Field.
thick-tangled adj.
ΚΠ
1956 D. Gascoyne Night Thoughts 15 The shadows drift in tattered velvet bunches, Thick-tangled rags of shadow are set swaying.
thick-woven adj.
ΚΠ
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 437 Now hid, now seen Among thick-wov'n Arborets and Flours. View more context for this quotation
1865 Q. Rev. Apr. 329 The thick-wove paper, and the brilliant type.
thick-wrought adj.
ΚΠ
1742 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes i. vii. 43 Whether..Tibur holds thee in its thick-wrought Shade.
C2. In senses 2, 3.
thick-beating adj.
ΚΠ
1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian iv. i. 71 The trampling of thick beating feet.
thick-coming adj.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. iii. 40 Troubled with thicke-comming Fancies. View more context for this quotation
thick-drawn adj.
ΚΠ
1777 J. Mountain Poet. Reveries (ed. 2) 6 His children watch his thick-drawn breath.
thick-flaming adj.
ΚΠ
1757 J. Dyer Fleece iv. 151 While flames, thick-flashing in the gloom.
thick-growing adj.
ΚΠ
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate III. ix. 236 Wide fields and thick-growing woods.
thick-jewelled adj.
ΚΠ
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lady of Shalott iii, in Poems (new ed.) 14 All in the blue unclouded weather, Thickjewelled shone the saddle-leather.
thick-laid adj.
ΚΠ
1698 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. IV. 318 So very numerous and thick-laid are the Temptations of the World.
thick-packed adj.
thick-rustling adj.
thick-spreading adj.
ΚΠ
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol i. 9 On the large Bough Of a thick-spreading Elm.
thick-starred adj.
ΚΠ
c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §23. 32 In some wynters nyht, whan the firmament is clere & thikke-sterred.
1860 R. W. Emerson Worship in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 206 Thick-starred Orion was my only companion.
C3. (In sense 4.)
thick-speaking adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [adjective] > inarticulate indistinct
rough-spoken1633
thick-speaking1861
burring1883
mushmouthed1909
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [adjective] > indistinct
thicka1398
undistinguished1595
obscure1656
muddy1841
thick-voiced1859
slushy1861
thick-speaking1861
woolly1872
stuffy1889
far-away1897
1861 W. F. Collier Hist. Eng. Lit. 114 The thick-speaking, shambling,..pedant.
C4. (In sense 5.)† thick-grown adj. Obsolete† thick-pleached adj. Obsolete† thick-thronged adj. Obsolete† thick-tinded adj. Obsolete
thick-clouded adj.
ΚΠ
a1711 T. Ken Edmund in Wks. (1721) II. xiii. 355 Your now thick-clouded Mind.
thick-descending adj.
ΚΠ
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. iii. 6 With piercing Frosts, or thick-descending Rain.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iii. i. 1 Vnder this thicke growne brake. View more context for this quotation
ΚΠ
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing i. ii. 8 Walking in a thicke pleached alley. View more context for this quotation
thick-plotting adj.
ΚΠ
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses i. ii. [Nestor] 34 They swarmed loud,..their heads thickplotting under maladroit silk hats.
thick-scarred adj.
ΚΠ
1969 G. MacBeth War Quartet 59 Its enormous back, thick-scarred From under-water struggles.
thick-streaming adj.
ΚΠ
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires i. viii. 47 They..fill'd a magic Trench profound With a black Lamb's thick-streaming Gore.
thick-swarming adj.
ΚΠ
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) cxviii. iv Hosts of Enemies Vexatious as thick-swarming Bees.
ΚΠ
1595 W. S. Lamentable Trag. Locrine ii. v. 39 Amongst the dangers of the thick throngd pikes.
ΚΠ
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) ii Whan þe heed is of gret beemes and is wele afeeted and thike tynded.
thick-warbled adj.
ΚΠ
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 243 Where the Attic Bird Trills her thick-warbl'd notes. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.c825
v.a1000
adv.971