stick
/stɪk/noun, verb, adjective
stick is spelled S-T-I-C-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 58 times per million words in written English, the 1,793rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stick means “A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stick is sticks.
How many letters and syllables are in stick?
| Letters | 5: S-T-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 58 times per million words; the 1,793rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is stick?
Stick appears 58 times per million words in written English, the 1,793rd 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 stick?
- US /stɪk/
Stick has one syllable (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: En-us-stick.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with stick
Sounds like: stich (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with stick?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stick from its last stressed vowel (/ɪk/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of stick
- sticks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sticking participle, present
- sticked participle, past
- stuck participle, past
- sticker comparative
- stickest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small, thin branch from a tree or bush; a twig; a branch.
The beaver's dam was made out of sticks.
- 2
A relatively long, thin piece of wood, of any size.
I found several good sticks in the brush heap.
- 3
USA timber board, especially a two by four (inches).
I found enough sticks in dumpsters at construction sites to build my shed.
- 4
A cane or walking stick (usually wooden, metal or plastic) to aid in walking.
I don’t need my stick to walk, but it’s helpful.
- 5
A cudgel or truncheon (usually of wood, metal or plastic), especially one carried by police or guards.
As soon as the fight started, the guards came in swinging their sticks.
- 6
The vertical member of a cope-and-stick joint.
- 7
A mast or part of a mast of a ship; also, a yard.
- 8
A piece (of furniture, especially if wooden).
We were so poor we didn't have one stick of furniture.
- 9
A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab; an instance of sticking (pricking or piercing).
- 10
An instance of piercing someone with a needle, e.g. to draw blood or start an IV.
- 11
colloquialA person whom one is piercing with a needle to draw blood or start an IV (especially in the context of how difficult or easy this is).
She put the tourniquet on Bella's arm […] Bella wasn't going to be an easy stick.
- 12
The tendency to stick (remain stuck), stickiness.
- 13
The traction of tires on the road surface.
- 14
That which sticks (remains attached to another surface).
- 15
The amount of fishing line resting on the water surface before a cast; line stick.
- 16
informalrareOne who sticks at something; one who persists.
- 17
obsoleteThe customary length (according to the material used) of a piece or roll of textile fabrics imported from Flanders.
verb
- 1
To cut a piece of wood to be the stick member of a cope-and-stick joint.
- 2
datedslangTo compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick.
to stick type
- 3
To furnish or set with sticks.
- 4
To hit with a stick.
- 5
To become or remain attached; to adhere.
The tape will not stick if it melts.
- 6
To jam; to stop moving.
The lever sticks if you push it too far up.
- 7
To tolerate, to endure, to stick with.
- 8
To persist.
His old nickname stuck.
- 9
Of snow, to remain frozen on landing.
- 10
To remain loyal; to remain firm.
Just stick to your strategy, and you will win.
- 11
datedTo hesitate, to be reluctant; to refuse (in negative phrases).
, 2nd edition edited by Samuel Johnson, London: J. Payne, 1756, Part I, p. 12, Though a cup of cold water from some hand may not be without its reward, yet stick not thou for wine and oil for the wounds of the distressed […]
- 12
datedTo be puzzled (at something), have difficulty understanding.
adjective
- 1
informalLikely to stick; sticking, sticky.
A non-stick pan. A stick plaster.
noun
- 1
IrelandA member of the Official IRA.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bâton , canne , crosse , coller , coincer , rester |
| German | Stock, Ast, Zweig , Stab, Stecken , kleben |
| Portuguese | graveto, galho , pau, vara , stique, estique |
| Spanish | ramita, astilla , palo, tortol, tortor, mástel |
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.
Where does stick come from?
From Middle English sticke, stik, stikke (“branch, twig; kindling; mast; pale; stick, stylus”), from Old English sticca (“stick; peg; beam, rod”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô (“pole, stick”), from *stikkōną (“to fix, stick”), from *stikaną (“to stick; to stab”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp; to sting”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).