rick
rick Lexical Profile
rick Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A large, neatly constructed stack or pile of hay, corn, straw, or similar agricultural produce in a field, often covered or thatched for protection from the weather.
"The farmhands worked until dusk to thatch the hay rick before the autumn rains arrived."
American A stack of firewood, typically measuring four feet high, eight feet long, and the width of a single log (often considered a fraction of a full cord).
"We ordered two ricks of seasoned oak firewood to keep the woodstove burning through January."
British A minor sprain, strain, or wrench of a muscle or joint, especially in the neck, back, or ankle.
"He woke up with a painful rick in his neck after sleeping on an awkward pillow."
• verb
British To sprain, wrench, or twist (a joint or muscle, such as the back, neck, or ankle) slightly.
"She ricked her ankle while stepping off the uneven cobblestone curb."
To gather or pile (hay, straw, grain, or wood) into a neat stack or rick.
"Once the clover had dried in the sun, the workers began to rick it at the edge of the meadow."
• Rhymes for rick
Word Origin & Etymology
In its agricultural sense of a stack or pile, the word derives from Old English 'hreac', of Germanic origin and akin to Old Norse 'hraukr' (heap). The British sense meaning a sprain or wrench is a later dialectal variant of 'wrick', from Middle English 'wrikken' (to twist or jerk).