# tickle

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɪkl̩/ · frequency rank #21,387

## Definitions
1. The act of tickling.
2. An itchy feeling resembling the result of tickling.
3. A light tap of the ball.
4. A narrow strait, such as between an island and the shore.

## Etymology
From Middle English tiklen, tikelen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a frequentative form of Middle English tikken (“to touch lightly”), thus equivalent to tick + -le; or perhaps related to Old English tinclian (“to tickle”). Compare North Frisian tigele (“to tickle”) (Hallig dialect), and tiikle (“to tickle”) (Amrum dialect), German dialectal zicklen (“to excite; stir up”).
Alternatively, from a metathetic alteration of Middle English kitelen ("to tickle"; see kittle). Both are ultimately sound-symbolic.

## Easily confused with
- **tile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tickle-vs-tile)
- **title** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tickle-vs-title)
- **ticks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tickle-vs-ticks)
- **tingle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tickle-vs-tingle)
- **trickle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tickle-vs-trickle)
- **twinkle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tickle-vs-twinkle)
- **tick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tick-vs-tickle)
- **ticket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ticket-vs-tickle)
- **tackle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tackle-vs-tickle)
- **ticker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ticker-vs-tickle)
- **thicke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thicke-vs-tickle)
- **tackles** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tackles-vs-tickle)
- **tackled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tackled-vs-tickle)
- **thickly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thickly-vs-tickle)

## Common misspellings (9)
`itckle`, `tcikle`, `ticckle`, `tickel`, `tickkle`, `ticklle`, `ticlke`, `tikcle`, `ttickle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tickle