lickety

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Fanciful variant of lick, a noun used regionally or informally as a synonym of sprint,[1] perhaps with -ety, a suffix used to extend monosyllabic words.[2]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈlɪkɪti/

Adverb

lickety

  1. (US, informal, usually compounded with a noun) At full speed, fast.
    lickety-cut
    lickety-split
    • 1843, John S. Robb, Streaks of Squatter of Life, and Far-west Scenes‎, page 116:
      Away they started, “lickety-click,” and arrived at the winning-post within touching distance of each other.
    • 1886, Bret Harte, “Chiquita”, in Abraham Firth, editor, Voices for the Speechless, page 95:
      Lickity, lickity, switch, we came to the ford, and Chiquita / Buckled right down to her work
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:lickety.

References
  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “lickety-split”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. “-ety, suffix”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, November 2010.
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