a strong cotton fabric, often striped, used esp for mattress and pillow covers
Word origin
C17: from tick3
ticking in American English
(ˈtɪkɪŋ)
noun
strong, heavy cloth, often striped, used for casings of mattresses, pillows, etc.
Word origin
see tick4
Examples of 'ticking' in a sentence
ticking
I was awake to hear it, couldn't shut down the ticking in my head.
Robert Wilson A DARKENING STAIN (2002)
Gear out of stores, cables run, the cruise turbine barely ticking over, the manoeuvring turbine powering the ship.
Lunnon-Wood, Mike LET NOT THE DEEP (2002)
The only sound in the room was the ticking of the large clock above the classroom door.
Telushkin, Josef THE UNORTHODOX MURDER OF RABBI MOSS (2002)
There was silence save for the slow ticking of an ornate clock on the desk.
Wright, Richard THE OUTSIDER (2002)
Word lists with
ticking
fabric
All related terms of 'ticking'
tick
A tick is a written mark like a V : ✓. It is used to show that something is correct or has been selected or dealt with.
check
If you check something such as a piece of information or a document, you make sure that it is correct or satisfactory .
box-ticking
the process of satisfying bureaucratic administrative requirements rather than assessing the actual merit of something
ticking off
If you give someone a ticking off , you speak angrily to them because they have done something wrong .
ticking time bomb
If you describe something as a time bomb , you mean that it is likely to have a serious effect on a person or situation at a later date , especially if you think it will cause a lot of damage.
tick away
If you say that the clock or time is ticking away , ticking by , or ticking on , you mean that time is passing , especially when there is something that needs to be done or when you are waiting for something to happen .
tick off
If you tick off items on a list , you write a tick or other mark next to them, in order to show that they have been dealt with.
tick over
If an engine is ticking over , it is running at a low speed or rate, for example when it is switched on but you are not actually using it.
idle
If people who were working are idle , they have no jobs or work.