Thick (?), a. [Compar. Thicker (?); superl. Thickest.] [OE. thicke, AS. icce; akin to D. dik, OS. thikki, OHG. dicchi thick, dense, G. dick thick, Icel. ykkr, jokkr, and probably to Gael. & Ir. tiugh. Cf. Tight.]
1.
Measuring in the third dimension other than length and breadth, or in general dimension other than length; -- said of a solid body; as, a timber seven inches thick.
Were it as thick as is a branched oak.
Chaucer.
My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
1 Kings xii. 10.
2.
Having more depth or extent from one surface to its opposite than usual; not thin or slender; as, a thick plank; thick cloth; thick paper; thick neck.
3.
Dense; not thin; inspissated; as, thick vapors. Also used figuratively; as, thick darkness.
Make the gruel thick and slab.
Shak.
4.
Not transparent or clear; hence, turbid, muddy, or misty; as, the water of a river is apt to be thick after a rain.
"In a
thick, misty day."
Sir W. Scott.
5.
Abundant, close, or crowded in space; closely set; following in quick succession; frequently recurring.
The people were gathered thick together.
Luke xi. 29.
Black was the forest; thick with beech it stood.
Dryden.
6.
Not having due distinction of syllables, or good articulation; indistinct; as, a thick utterance.
7.
Deep; profound; as, thick sleep.
[R.]
Shak.
8.
Dull; not quick; as, thick of fearing.
Shak.
His dimensions to any thick sight were invincible.
Shak.
9.
Intimate; very friendly; familiar.
[Colloq.]
We have been thick ever since.
T. Hughes.
⇒ Thick is often used in the formation of compounds, most of which are self-explaining; as, thick-barred, thick-bodied, thick-coming, thick-cut, thick-flying, thick-growing, thick-leaved, thick-lipped, thick-necked, thick-planted, thick-ribbed, thick-shelled, thick-woven, and the like.
Thick register. Phon. See the Note under Register, n., 7. -- Thick stuff Naut., all plank that is more than four inches thick and less than twelve. J. Knowles.
<-- Thick-skulled, thick-headed. Stupid, slow to learn. [derogatory] -->
Syn. -- Dense; close; compact; solid; gross; coarse.
© Webster 1913.
Thick, n.
1.
The thickest part, or the time when anything is thickest.
In the thick of the dust and smoke.
Knolles.
2.
A thicket; as, gloomy thicks.
[Obs.]
Drayton.
Through the thick they heard one rudely rush.
Spenser.
He through a little window cast his sight
Through thick of bars, that gave a scanty light.
Dryden.
Thick-and-thin block Naut., a fiddle block. See under Fiddle. -- Through thick and thin, through all obstacles and difficulties, both great and small.
Through thick and thin she followed him.
Hudibras.
He became the panegyrist, through thick and thin, of a military frenzy.
Coleridge.
© Webster 1913.
Thick (?), adv. [AS. þicce.]
1.
Frequently; fast; quick.
2.
Closely; as, a plat of ground thick sown.
3.
To a great depth, or to a greater depth than usual; as, land covered thick with manure.
Thick and threefold, in quick succession, or in great numbers. [Obs.] L'Estrange.
© Webster 1913.
Thick, v. t. & i. [Cf. AS. iccian.]
To thicken.
[R.]
The nightmare Life-in-death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
Coleridge.
© Webster 1913.