Stick

n. [A-S. sticca, allied to stecan, stician, to stab, prick, pierce; Icel. stiki, a staff, sticki, a dagger, Sw. sticka, O. H. Ger. steccho, N. H. Ger. stecken. Cf. STAKE and STOCK.] 1. The small shoot, or branch, of a tree or shrub, cut off; a rod; also, a staff; as, to strike one with a stick.

Withered sticks, to gather which might serve Against a winter’s day. Milton.

2Sense 2. Any stem or branch of a tree, of any size, cut for fuel or timber.

3Sense 3. Any thing shaped like a stick; as, a stick of sealing-wax.

4Sense 4. (Print.) An instrument in which types are composed in words, and the words arranged to the required length of the lines;—called also composing-stick. See COMPOSING-STICK.

5Sense 5. A thrust with a pointed instrument that penetrates a body; a stab.

Gold-stick, a title of the colonels of the two regiments of Life Guards in England, whose duty it is to attend the sovereign on all state occasions. They act alternately for a month, and the one on duty at the palace is called gold-stick in waiting. The name originated in the custom of the sovereign presenting a gold stick to the colonel of the Life Guards on his receiving command of the regiment.—Silver-stick, a title given to the field-officer of the Life Guards when on duty at the palace. Reports are made through him to the gold-stick, and orders from the latter to the regiment pass through him. Craig. Thackeray.—Stick of eels, a lot of twenty-five eels. Halliwell.

1Sense 1. To hold to by cleaving to the surface, as by tenacity or attraction; to adhere; as, glue sticks to the fingers; paste sticks to the wall, and causes paper to stick.

I am a kind of bur; I shall stick. Shak.

2Sense 2. Hence, to remain where placed; to hold fast to any position so as to be moved with difficulty; to cling; to abide; to be united closely.

If on your fame our sex a blot has thrown, 'Twill ever stick, through malice of your own. Young.

3Sense 3. To be hindered from proceeding; to be prevented from making progress; to refrain from motion onward; to stop; as, a carriage sticks in the mud.

I had most need of blessing, and Amen Stuck in my throat. Shak.

They never doubted the Commons; but heard all stuck in the Lords' House, and desired the names. Clarendon.

4Sense 4. To be embarrassed or puzzled; to hesitate.

They will stick long at part of a demonstration, for want of perceiving the connection between two ideas. Locke.

5Sense 5. To cause difficulties or scruples; to cause to hesitate.

This is the difficulty that sticks with the most reasonable. Swift.

6Sense 6. To adhere closely in friendship and affection.

There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Prov. xviii. 24.

To stick at, to hesitate. “If they should stick at any advantageous absurdity.” South.—To stick by. (a.) To adhere closely; to be constant; to be firm in supporting. “We are your only friends: stick by us, and we will stick by you.” Davenant. (b.) To be troublesome by adhering. “I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me.” Pope.—To stick out, to project; to be prominent. “His bones, that were not seen, stick out.” Job xxxiii. 21.—To stick to, to be persevering in holding to; as, to stick to a party or cause. “The advantage will be on our side, if we stick to its essentials.” Addison.—To stick upon, to dwell upon; not to forsake. “If the matter be knotty, the mind must stop and buckle to it, and stick upon it with labor and thought.” Locke.