STICK, n. [G. This word is connected with the verb to stick, with stock, stack, and other words having the like elements. The primary sense of the root is to thrust, to shoot, and to set.]

1. The small shoot or branch of a tree or shrub, cut off; a rod; also, a staff; as, to strike one with a stick.
2. Any stem of a tree, of any size, cut for fuel or timber. It is applied in America to any long and slender piece of timber, round or square, from the smallest size to the largest, used in the frames of buildings; as, a stick of timber for a post, a beam or a rafter.
3. Many instruments, long and slender, are called sticks; as, the composing stick of printers.
4. A thrust with a pointed instrument that penetrates a body; a stab. Stick of eels, the number of twenty-five eels. A bind contains ten sticks. – Encyc.

1. To adhere; to hold to by cleaving to the surface, as by tenacity or attraction; as, glue sticks to the fingers; paste sticks to the wall, and causes paper to stick. I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick to thy scales. – Ezek. xxii
2. To be united; to be inseparable; to cling fast to, as something reproachful. If on your fame our sex a blot has thrown, / 'Twill ever stick, through malice of your own. – Young.
3. To rest with the memory; to abide. – Bacon.
4. To stop; to be impeded by adhesion or obstruction; as, the carriage sticks in the mire.
5. To stop; to be arrested in a course. My faltering tongue / Sticks at the sound. – Smith.
6. To stop; to hesitate. He sticks at no difficulty; he sticks at the commission of no crime; he sticks at nothing.
7. To adhere; to remain; to resist efforts to remove. I had most need of blessing, and amen / Stuck in my throat. – Shak.
8. To cause difficulties or scruples; to cause to hesitate. This is the difficulty that sticks with the most reasonable. – Swift.
9. To be stopped or hindered from proceeding; as, a bill passed the senate, but stuck in the house of representatives. They never doubted the commons, but heard all stuck in the lords' house. – Clarendon.
10. To be embarrassed or puzzled. They will stick long at part of a demonstration, for want of perceiving the connection between two ideas. – Locke.
11. To adhere closely in friendship and affection. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. – Prov. xviii. To stick to, to adhere closely; to be constant; to be firm; to be persevering; as, to stick to a party or cause. The advantage will be on our side, if we stick to its essentials. – Addison. To stick by, to adhere closely; to be constant; to be firm in supporting. We are your only friends; stick by us, and we will stick by you. – Davenant. #2. To be troublesome by adhering. I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by you. – Pope. To stick upon, to dwell upon; not to forsake. If the matter be knotty, the mind must stop and buckle to it, and stick upon it with labor and thought. [Not elegant.] – Locke. To stick out, to project; to be prominent. His bones that were not seen, stick out. – Job xxxiii.

1. To pierce; to stab; to cause to enter, as a pointed instrument; hence, to kill by piercing; as, to stick a beast in slaughter. [A common use of the word.]
2. To thrust in; to fasten or cause to remain by piercing; as, to stick a pin on the sleeve. The points of spears are stuck within the shield. – Dryden.
3. To fasten; to attach by causing to adhere to the surface; as, to stick on a patch or plaster; to stick on a thing with paste or glue.
4. To set; to fix in; as, to stick card teeth.
5. To set with something pointed; as, to slick cards.
6. To fix on a pointed instrument; as, to stick an apple on fork.

1. A small shoot, or branch, separated, as by a cutting, from a tree or shrub; also, any stem or branch of a tree, of any size, cut for fuel or timber.
   
   

   Withered sticks to gather, which might serve
   Against a winter's day. Milton.

2. To penetrate with a pointed instrument; to pierce; to stab; hence, to kill by piercing; as, to stick a beast.
   
   

   And sticked him with bodkins anon. Chaucer.

   It was a shame . . . to stick him under the other gentleman's arm while he was redding the fray. Sir W. Scott.

3. To adhere; as, glue sticks to the fingers; paste sticks to the wall.
   
   

   The green caterpillar breedeth in the inward parts of roses not blown, where the dew sticketh. Bacon.

4. Any long and comparatively slender piece of wood, whether in natural form or shaped with tools; a rod; a wand; a staff; as, the stick of a rocket; a walking stick.
5. To cause to penetrate; to push, thrust, or drive, so as to pierce; as, to stick a needle into one's finger.
   
   

   Thou stickest a dagger in me. Shak.

6. To remain where placed; to be fixed; to hold fast to any position so as to be moved with difficulty; to cling; to abide; to cleave; to be united closely.
   
   

   A friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Prov. xviii. 24.

   I am a kind of bur; I shall stick. Shak.

   If on your fame our sex a bolt has thrown,
   'T will ever stick through malice of your own. Young.

7. Anything shaped like a stick; as, a stick of wax.
8. To fasten, attach, or cause to remain, by thrusting in; hence, also, to adorn or deck with things fastened on as by piercing; as, to stick a pin on the sleeve.
   
   

   My shroud of white, stuck all with yew. Shak.

   The points of spears are stuck within the shield. Dryden.

9. To be prevented from going farther; to stop by reason of some obstacle; to be stayed.
   
   

   I had most need of blessing, and "Amen"
   Stuck in my throat. Shak.

   The trembling weapon passed
   Through nine bull hides, . . . and stuck within the last. Dryden.

10. A derogatory expression for a person; one who is inert or stupid; as, an odd stick; a poor stick.
    
    
    [Colloq.]
11. To set; to fix in; as, to stick card teeth.
12. To be embarrassed or puzzled; to hesitate; to be deterred, as by scruples; to scruple; -- often with at.
    
    

    They will stick long at part of a demonstration for want of perceiving the connection of two ideas. Locke.

    Some stick not to say, that the parson and attorney forged a will. Arbuthnot.

13. A composing stick. See under Composing. It is usually a frame of metal, but for posters, handbills, etc., one made of wood is used.
14. To set with something pointed; as, to stick cards.
15. To cause difficulties, scruples, or hesitation.
    
    

    This is the difficulty that sticks with the most reasonable. Swift.

    To stick by. (a) To adhere closely to; to be firm in supporting. "We are your only friends; stick by us, and we will stick by you." Davenant. (b) To be troublesome by adhering. "I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me." Pope. -- To stick out. (a) To project; to be prominent. "His bones that were not seen stick out." Job xxxiii. 21. (b) To persevere in a purpose; to hold out; as, the garrison stuck out until relieved. [Colloq.] -- To stick to, to be persevering in holding to; as, to stick to a party or cause. "The advantage will be on our side if we stick to its essentials." Addison. -- To stick up, to stand erect; as, his hair sticks up. -- To stick up for, to assert and defend; as, to stick up for one's rights or for a friend. [Colloq.] -- To stick upon, to dwell upon; not to forsake. "If the matter be knotty, the mind must stop and buckle to it, and stick upon it with labor and thought." Locke.

16. A thrust with a pointed instrument; a stab.
    
    

    A stick of eels, twenty-five eels. [Prov. Eng.] -- Stick chimney, a chimney made of sticks laid crosswise, and cemented with clay or mud, as in some log houses. [U.S.] -- Stick insect, (Zoöl.), any one of various species of wingless orthopterous insects of the family Phasmidæ, which have a long round body, resembling a stick in form and color, and long legs, which are often held rigidly in such positions as to make them resemble small twigs. They thus imitate the branches and twigs of the trees on which they live. The common American species is Diapheromera femorata. Some of the Asiatic species are more than a foot long. -- To cut one's stick, or To cut stick, to run away. [Slang] De Quincey.

17. To fix on a pointed instrument; to impale; as, to stick an apple on a fork.
18. To attach by causing to adhere to the surface; as, to stick on a plaster; to stick a stamp on an envelope; also, to attach in any manner.
19. To compose; to set, or arrange, in a composing stick; as, to stick type.
    
    
    [Cant]
20. To run or plane (moldings) in a machine, in contradistinction to working them by hand. Such moldings are said to be stuck.
21. To cause to stick; to bring to a stand; to pose; to puzzle; as, to stick one with a hard problem.
    
    
    [Colloq.]
22. To impose upon; to compel to pay; sometimes, to cheat.
    
    
    [Slang]

    To stick out, to cause to project or protrude; to render prominent.