Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an effort, an attempt at something.

1740		Cibber Life of Colley Cibber 31: Therefore, right or wrong, a Lick at the Laureat will always be a Sure Bait [...] to catch him little Readers.
1837		R.M. Bird Nick of the Woods II 89: I was squinting a long aim at ’em, hoping I might smash two of ’em at a lick.
1847		J.S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 106: He was puttin’ in the biggest kind a licks in the way of courtin’.
1858		‘Joe Bowers’ Lingenfelter et al. Songs of the Amer. West (1968) 97: At length I went to minin’, put in my biggest licks.
1875		M. Thompson Hoosier Mosaics 123: He got down and prayed like a Methodist preacher at his very best licks.
1876		B. Harte Gabriel Conroy II 30: Gabe [...] jest comes along, accidental like, and, dern my skin! but he strikes onto a purty gal and a wife the first lick!
1885		Illus. Police News 10 Oct. 3/4: She habitually talked slang , and made use of such expression as ‘getting left’ [...] and ‘put in his best licks’.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 82: It’ll be a short life and merry one [...] if we go on big licks like this.
1900		W.F. Drannan Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains (1903) 107: I got out like a quarter-horse, putting in my best licks to try to reach a wash-out.
1911		G. Stratton-Porter Harvester 149: Put in your best licks, my boy; perk right up and court her like a house afire.
1947		R. Goffin Horn of Plenty 141: Let’s go, Dipper [...] Give it a solid lick!
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 347: Says now one more lick fore quittin’ time, / An’ I’ll beat this steam drill down.

2. (Aus./N.Z./US) a (short) sprint; intensified as lick of one’s life.

1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England I 221: Leadin’ off of two hosses [...] takin’ a lick of a half mile on a bye road, right slap a-head.
1868		H.W. Woodruff Trotting Horse of America 84: I shall take very good care that she don’t go that lick any farther.
1918		Kia Ora Coo-ee 15 Apr. 18/1: Camel broken loose, Corporal, gone for the lick of his life towards Wadi.
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 340: I says I’ll go with him for a bit of a stroll. Oh no, he says, not to bother, and goes for the lick of his life.
1953		I. Hamilton Till Human Voices Wake Us 38: Most of the boobhead drivers went for the lick of their lives.

3. (US) a rhythm or pace, spec. on the chain gang.

1847		W.T. Porter Quarter Race in Kentucky 104: He went up the opposite bank at the same lick, and disappeared.
1900		Sun (NY) 2 Dec. 31/4: I follered on at m’ bes’ licks, doin’ mebbe ten miles a hour.
1932		(con. 1929) R.E. Burns I Am a Fugitive 160: This working in unison is called ‘Keeping the lick’. [Ibid.] 174: The speed of the lick was usually sixteen shovelfuls a minute.
1936		K. Mackenzie Living Rough 210: From sunrise to sunset we shovelled dust on the road. A big nigger sets the lick. Everybody had to work in unison.
1965		R.H. Conquest Horses in Kitchen 35: Most of the dancers [...] hurried off home at a dickens of a lick.
1984		A. Sample (con. late 1950s-early 1960s) Racehoss 163: Their tranquil nodding allowed the tree-cutting foursomes to take [...] a few minutes rest, while the other three cutters in their crews kept up the lick [ibid.] 251: Cap Rock picked up the lick, and the con next to him, and the next, and so on down the line until our 200 hoes were hitting together thunderously.

4. constr. with the.

5. (later black) a turn, a ‘go’, an attempt; thus one-lick, once only.

1882		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 7 Jan. 7/4: [A] drummer [was] able to rake in the orders for goods at the race of a cool couple of thousand dollars a lick.
1913		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 114: Who’s got first licks.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 104: Brandy Bottle hits thirteen licks in a row, and the last lick he makes is on a ten.
1957		C. Himes Imabelle 90: That ain’t the lick either.
1958		(con. late 19C) D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 15 Feb. 13: [of throws of the dice] Robinson [...] won $4,400 in straight licks .
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 13: At a dollar a lick the square hit Spider four times.
1965		C. Himes Rage in Harlem (1969) 89: [as 1957].
1981		John ‘Piano ed’ Williams q. in McKee & Chisenhall Beale Black & Blue 136: Sometimes would be some old fellow come by, and you give him a drink, he’d go take a lick or two for you.
1997		C. Newland Scholar 46: Respec’ cuz, for that ironin’ lick.

6. (Und.) a theft.

1933		‘Paul Cain’ ‘One, Two, Three’ in Penzler Pulp Fiction (2006) 13: He’d made the hundred and fifty grand lick in Quebec.
1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 33: I do jewelry licks. I go in jewelry stores, jack ’em up.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 lick Definition: to steal something from someone. Example: Man we just pulled this lick at the store.
2012		‘Dutch’ ? (Pronounced Que) [ebook] With the money he got out of the lick, it was basically New York’s money he was spending.
2020		G. Krauze Who They Was 7: Usually it’s Big D, Gotti and me who get the biggest cut [...] of the lick.

7. (orig. US) a particular phrase of music, i.e. a guitar lick.

1931		Don Redmond ‘Shakin’ the African’ 🎵 Cornet licks, red hot licks, they’ll mow you down!
1941		J.M. Cain Mildred Pierce (1985) 510: If they had the right hot licks on their first broadcast, they hit the big time overnight.
1953		Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs 181: The jazz band took over from the sweet, and as the hot licks sounded Angel-O slid from Action’s embrace.
1964		L. Hairston ‘The Winds of Change’ in Clarke Harlem, USA (1971) 316: Just when the licks was coming good, she opens up on me again.
1970		A. Young Snakes (1971) 104: I wanna get down all the hip licks so I can get with the people that’s playin the hip licks.
1981		G. Tate ‘Knee Deep in Blood Ulmer’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 19: In between the strings oodles of cryptic licks that noodle towards unorthodox and unsettling pattern shifts.
1995		G. Small Ruthless 218: Then there are the latest ‘licks’ (tunes) and ‘champion’ sound systems.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 128: Gusto sat behind a small drum kit practising his licks.

8. (US black) a plan, an idea, a scheme.

1944		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 8 Apr. 8B: The vipers [...] were mellow and their knowledge wigs tight. ‘Skin me, Jim, that’s the lick’.
1957		R. Prather Always Leave ’Em Dying 114: They’ve got those recordings of Trammel’s own voice, his speeches and sermons and get-hot licks.
1960		‘Lord Buckley’ Hiparama of the Classics 11: He’s a carpenter kitty and he’s got his own lick.
1974		(con. 1940s) E. Thompson Tattoo (1977) 163: That’s a tough lick.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 34: I had my little licks I did to make money.
2001		(con. 1990s) in J. Miller One of the Guys 82: ‘I keep track of who’s doin’ what. I got an set up licks...Like who we’re gonna rob’.

9. fig. what one does, an action, one’s personal preference.

1960		‘Lord Buckley’ Hiparama of the Classics 10: They wanted to dig his Lick, you see, Dig his Miracle Lick!
1978		R. Price Ladies’ Man (1985) 177: Jobless. I kept waiting for a panic lick, but nothing happened.

10. (US) a stroke of financial good luck.

1970

D. Jenkins Dogged Victims 58: I thought it was a big lick to get $300 and some clubs and balls.

11. (US) an opportunity.

1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 35: You better just handle the licks you gonna get here in the joint.
2024		C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 27: [W]hat was going on with Doris Montalvo had to do with getting her last licks in before her beauty lost its luster.

12. (drugs) a puff on a crack cocaine pipe.

1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 222: He always said the Lord’s Prayer, just before he took a lick.
2005		Jade LB Keisha the Sket (2021) 59: ‘U kno afta da first lik iz nxt 2 imposible 2 stop’.