- sick
- 1
/sIk/ adjective
1 ILL suffering from a disease or illness: Where's Sheila - is she sick? | a sick child | get sick AmE (=become ill): At the last minute I got sick and couldn't go. | sick as a dog (=very sick): Pete's at home in bed, sick as a dog. | be off sick (=be away from work or school because you are ill): I was off sick for four days with the flu. | call in sick (=telephone to say you are not coming to work because you are ill): You have to call in sick before 9.30. | take sick old-fashioned (=become ill): He took sick and died a week later.2 be sick to bring food up from your stomach through your mouth; vomit: The cat's been sick on the carpet. | You'll be sick if you eat any more of that chocolate! | violently sick (=suddenly and severely sick): I was violently sick the last time I ate prawns.3 feel sick also be/feel sick to your stomach to feel as if you are going to vomit: As soon as the ship started moving I began to feel sick.—see also: carsick, seasick, travelsick4 be sick (and tired) of also be sick to death of to be angry and bored with something that has been happening for a long time: I'm really sick of housework! | We're getting sick and tired of listening to them argue all the time.5 be worried sick/be sick with worry to be extremely worried: Why didn't you tell me you were coming home late? I've been worried sick!6 make me/you sick spokena) to make you feel very angry: People like you make me sick!b) spoken humorous to make someone feel jealous: You make me sick with your `expenses paid' holidays!7 STRANGE/CRUELa) someone who is sick does things that are strange and cruel, and seems mentally ill: I keep getting obscene phone calls from some sick pervert. | a sick mindb) sick stories, jokes etc deal with death and suffering in a cruel or unpleasant way: Did you see that film `Brain Dead'? Sick, isn't it? | Has he told you his sick joke about the undertaker?8 sick as a parrot BrE spoken humorous extremely disappointed: “How did you feel when you missed that penalty?” “Sick as a parrot.”9 sick at heart literary very unhappy, upset, or disappointed about something: I was sick at heart to think that I would never see the place again.USAGE NOTE: SICK WORD CHOICE: sick, vomit, throw up, ill, not well, unwell, something wrong with In spoken British English to be sick is more often used to mean `to throw up the contents of the stomach through the mouth' than `to be generally ill': If you eat too many sweets you'll be sick. The more formal word in British and American English is vomit, and a less formal word is throw up. If you are talking about general illness, especially when you do not say exactly what illness it is, you would usually use ill in British English, and sick in American English: She's been ill for several days now. | You'll end up getting sick if you don't get more rest. In British and American English you can also use not well: Diana hasn't been feeling very well lately. Ill usually has a stronger meaning than not well. You may be not well because of a bad cold but ill with cancer. Unwell is a more formal word for not well or ill. Before a noun sick always means 'generally not well' (ill and unwell are not usually used before a noun): He's gone to visit his sick mother. When you want to talk about a particular part of the body that is hurt or has a disease you can say there is something wrong with .... Tommy can't play today - there's something wrong with his knee (NOT He has a sick knee | he is sick with his knee). SPELLING Note that homesick is written as one word. 2 noun1 the sick people who are ill: The sick and wounded were allowed to go free.2 (U) BrE informal vomit3 verb sick sth up phrasal verb (T) BrE informal to bring up food from your stomach; vomit 1
Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.
