flick

Meaning

Noun

1. A short, quick movement, especially a brush, sweep, or flip.
2. (informal) A motion picture, movie, film; (in plural, usually preceded by "the") movie theater, cinema.
3. A cut that lands with the point, often involving a whip of the foible of the blade to strike at a concealed target.
4. A powerful underarm volley shot.
5. The act of pressing a place on a touch screen device.
6. A flitch.
7. A unit of time, equal to 1/705,600,000 of a second
8. (dated, slang) A chap or fellow; sometimes as a friendly term of address.
9. (dated) A photo.

Verb

1. To move or hit (something) with a short, quick motion.
2. To pass by rapidly, so as not to be perceived clearly.

Synonyms

flip

snap

flicker

fillip

riffle

motion picture

tap

click

film

📽️

movie

jerk

toss

lash

strike

swing

chuck

picture

pic

moving picture

motion-picture show

percussion

moving-picture show

twitch

thumb

picture show

browse

leaf

throw

cinema

🎦

brush

hit

ruffle

thrust

rap

flap

gutter

glimmer

flutter

flitter

bruise

chop

push aside

plunker

flash

celluloid

blow

pitch

poke

bunt

movie theater

Translations

película

📽️

chiquenaude

pichenette

schnalzen

piparote

leichter Schlag

capirotazo

vingerknip

pugno sulla testa

dare un colpetto con la mano

knip

colpetto

muoversi a scatto

schiocco

jeter

Pronounced as (IPA)

/flɪk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: flykke

In summary

From Middle English flykke (“light blow or stroke”). Later uses apparently interpreted as a back-formation from flicker.
The use of flick to mean a film or movie derives from the fact that early films had a low frame rate, thus causing the film to "flick" rapidly when projected onto a screen.