- pass the tongue over (something), typically in order to taste, moisten, or clean it舔尝, 舔湿（或舔净）：
he licked the stamp and stuck it on the envelope
他舔了一下邮票, 把它贴在信封上
no obj. he licked at his damaged hand with his tongue.他用舌头舔了舔受伤的手。
- no obj., with adverbial of direction figurative (of a flame, wave, or breeze) move lightly and quickly like a tongue〈喻〉（火舌）吞卷; （波浪）轻拍, 轻卷; （微风）撩, 轻拂：
the flames licked around the wood.
火舌吞卷着树林。
- informal overcome (a person or problem) decisively〈非正式〉战胜（人, 难题）：
all right Mary, I know when I'm licked
行了, 玛丽, 受挫时我自会知道的
the Chancellor said that the government had inflation licked.
大臣说政府已经战胜了通货膨胀。
- beat or thrash揍, 打败：
she stands tall and could lick any man in the place.
她个头高高的, 要说打架的话, 那地方没有一个男人是她的对手。
lick someone/thing down
W. Indian cut or knock someone or something down〈西印度〉砍倒, 击倒。
- an act of licking something with the tongue舔：
Sammy gave his fingers a long lick.
萨米长时间地舔着他的手指头。
- figurative a quick movement of flame, water, etc. resembling this〈喻〉（火舌）吞卷; （波浪）轻拍, 轻卷; （微风）撩, 轻拂。
- informal a light coating or quick application of something, especially paint〈非正式〉薄薄的一层; 快速的涂抹（尤指油漆）：
all she'd need to do to the kitchen was give it a lick of paint.
她需要为厨房做的事情只是稍微把它油漆一下而已。
- in sing. [usu. with negative] US an extremely small amount of something abstract〈美〉（抽象事物的）极少量：
there's not a lick of suspense in the entire plot.
整个情节没有丝毫悬念。
- （常作 licks）informal a short phrase or solo in jazz or popular music〈非正式〉（爵士乐或流行音乐中的）小过门：
cool guitar licks.
绝妙的吉他小过门。
- informal a smart blow〈非正式〉狠狠的一击：
his mother gave him several licks for daring to blaspheme.
他妈妈因为他竟敢亵渎神灵而狠揍了他几下。
at a lick
- informal at a fast pace; with considerable speed〈非正式〉快速, 迅速。
a lick and a promise
- informal a hasty performance of a task, especially of cleaning something〈非正式〉草率从事（尤指清洗工作）。
lick someone's boots（或 〈粗俚〉 arse）
- be excessively obsequious towards someone, especially to gain favour from them.死命地拍马奉承。
lick someone/thing into shape
- 见SHAPE.
lick one's lips（或 chops）
- look forward to something with eager anticipation急切地盼望; （对…）馋涎欲滴。
lick one's wounds
- retire to recover one's strength or confidence after a defeat or humiliating experience（失败或受辱后）休养生息, 养精蓄锐, 恢复元气：
the political organization he worked for was licking its wounds after electoral defeat.
他所在的政治组织在竞选失利后正在休养生息, 以图恢复元气。
not be able to do something a lick
- US informal be totally incompetent at the specified activity〈美, 非正式〉完全无法做,对…一窍不通：
I wasn't able to sing a lick.
我根本不会唱歌。