Meanings
rick1
plural ricks · alternative ruck
- Straw, hay etc. stored in a stack for winter fodder, commonly protected with thatch.
There is a remnant still of last year's golden clusters of beehive ricks, rising at intervals beyond the hedgerows;[…].
1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 53, in Adam Bede […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC2 more examples
"So this last week, you see, crown'd the business; an' on Satherday night the last shafe was nately tied an' sint in to the misthress, an' everything was finisht, all to the tatchin' o' the ricks."
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 514It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC - USA stack of wood, especially cut to a regular length; also used as a measure of wood, typically four by eight feet.
present singular third person ricks · participle present ricking · participle past ricked · past ricked · alternative ruck
- To heap up (hay, etc.) in ricks.
rick2
present singular third person ricks · participle present ricking · participle past ricked · past ricked
- dialectaltransitiveTo pierce with a hook by means of a sudden jerk or pull.
rick3
present singular third person ricks · participle present ricking · participle past ricked · past ricked
rick4
Rick5
alternative Ric · alternative Rik
- A diminutive of the male given name Richard, as well as similar name such as Ricardo.
Mark Watney is the first of them to be introduced on screen, in the middle of collecting soil and rock samples from the Martian surface. Rick Martinez (Michael Peña) jokes that he just discovered dirt, and Mark ribs him about the usefulness of his job.
2016 August 31, “GENIUS CHARACTER REVEALS: Mark Watney”, in Industrial Scripts - A surname transferred from the given name.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (‘rick’ and ‘wrick’ are British)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
rick · noun, verb
- Proto-Germanic*hraukaz“heap”
- Old Englishhrycce“rick, heap, pile”
- Middle English*rykke
- Englishrick
From Middle English *rykke, from Old English hrycce (“rick, heap, pile”), cognate with Scots ruk (“rick”), Norwegian ruka (“rick, haystack”). Related also to Old English hrēac (“rick, stack”), from Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“heap”). Further relations: Dutch rook, Icelandic hraukur, Irish cruach. Doublet of croagh.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →rick · verb, noun
- Middle Low Germanvorwricken
- Middle Dutch*verwricken
- Middle Englishwricken
- Englishrick
From earlier wrick, from Middle English wricken, wrikken (“to move back and forth”), probably from Middle Dutch *verwricken or Middle Low German vorwricken. Cognate with West Frisian wrikke, wrikje, Dutch wrikken, Low German wricken, German wricken, Danish vrikke, Swedish vricka.
More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German
Full word history & related roots →rick · verb, noun
- Proto-Germanic*rukkijaną“to rock, move”
- Old Norserykkja“to move, rock, throw”
- Middle English*rikken
- Englishrick
From Middle English *rikken (attested only as palatised variant Middle English richen (“to pull, tug; to move, proceed, run; to twist, turn”)), from Old Norse rykkja (“to move, rock, throw”), from Proto-Germanic *rukkijaną (“to rock, move”). Cognate with English rock. Possibly merged with Middle English wrikken (“to move to and fro, move back and forth”), see Etymology 2 above.
More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rick · proper noun
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃reǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃rḗǵs
- Proto-Celtic*rīxs
- Proto-Germanic*rīks
- Proto-West Germanic*rīk
- Proto-Indo-European*kret-der.?
- Proto-Germanic*harduz
- Proto-West Germanic*hardu
- Proto-West Germanic*Rīkuhardu
- Old High GermanRihhart
- Middle High GermanRihard
- Medieval LatinRichardus
- Old FrenchRichard
- Middle EnglishRycharde
- EnglishRichard
- EnglishRick
From the male given name Richard.
More words from Richard<id
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian купа
- купа (kupa)stack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Czech stoh, kupa
- stohstack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
- kupastack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
- kupkastack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Finnish auma
- aumastack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
French meule
- meulestack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Hungarian kazal
- kazalstack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Persian راژ, راش
- راژ (râž)stack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
- راش (râš)stack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
- چاچ (čâč)stack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Polish bróg
- brógstack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Russian стог
- стог (stog)stack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Swedish stack
- stackstack or pile, of straw, hay etc.
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rick
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
rick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rick
“rick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rick. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rick,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rick.
Source: rick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.