licking
/ˈlɪkɪŋ/noun, verb
licking is spelled L-I-C-K-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, licking means “The act by which something is licked” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of licking is lickings.
How many letters and syllables are in licking?
| Letters | 7: L-I-C-K-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is licking?
Licking appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce licking?
- /ˈlɪkɪŋ/
Licking has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-licking.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of licking
- lickings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does licking mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act by which something is licked.
- 2
informalA severe beating.
- 3
informalA great loss or defeat.
Our football team took a licking last night.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of lick
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Licking in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense an act of licking:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | léchage |
| German | Licken |
| Spanish | lengüetazo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.