Word family noun sick the sick sickness sicko adjective sick sickening sickly verb sicken adverb sickeningly sickly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsicksick1 /sɪk/ ●●● S1 W3 adjective 1 illILL especially American English suffering from a disease or illness His mother’s very sick. Maria can’t come in today because she’s sick. a sick child a sick animalsick with I have been sick with flu.get sick (=become ill) American English At the last minute, I got sick and couldn’t go.be off sick British English, be out sick American English (=be away from work or school because you are ill) Two of his employees were out sick. I was off sick for four days with the flu.phone/ring/call in sick (=phone to say you are not coming to work because you are ill) He was upset because it was the first day of the sale and Astrid had called in sick. What will happen to the business if you fall sick (=become ill) or die? He took sick (=became ill) and died a week later. Pete’s at home in bed, as sick as a dog (=very sick).► see thesaurus at ill2 → be sick3 → feel sick4 → make me/you sick5 → make somebody/yourself sick6 → be sick (and tired) of (doing) something7 → be worried sick/be sick with worry8 strange/cruel a) STRANGEsomeone who is sick does things that are strange and cruel, and seems mentally ill I keep getting obscene phone calls from some sick pervert. You’re sick! a sick mind b) CRUELsick stories, jokes etc deal with death and suffering in a cruel or unpleasant way I don’t want to hear any of your sick jokes, thank you. That’s really sick!9 → sick at heart10 → sick as a parrot11 [not before noun] British English spoken used by young people to say that something is very impressive and they admire it a lotCOLLOCATIONSverbsget sick (=become ill)The boy got sick, and he just got worse and worse.fall/take sick formal (=become ill, especially with something serious or that will last a long time)He fell sick and died within a matter of weeks.be off sick British English, be out sick American English (=be away from work or school because you are ill)Half my staff were off sick.call/phone/ring in sick (=phone to say you are not coming in to work because you are ill)I could have called in sick, but I knew you needed this report.sick + NOUNsick leave (=time that you can stay away from work because you are ill)He returned to duty after two months’ sick leave.sick pay (=money paid to an employee who is too ill to work)Only full-time employees got sick pay.somebody's sick bed (=the bed where a sick person is lying)He left his sick bed to play in the game.the sick room (=the room where a sick person is)She had spent the last hour in her mother’s sick room.the sick bay (=a room where there are beds for people who are sick, for example on a ship or in a school)I was confined to the ship's sick bay until we arrived back in Liverpool. Examples from the Corpus
sick• Nall should have kept bringing the time down herself, but she got sick.• Where's Mary today? I hope she's not sick again.• But they also can't develop if people are sick and illiterate.• I get travel sick, anyway.• So the family rule about illness, as Carrie Semple experienced it, was that the best child was a sick child.• I'm sorry I didn't reply to your e-mail. I was in bed sick for a couple of days.• I was very sick for twenty-four hours, and Michael was coping with everything.• Is this somebody's idea of a sick joke?• One of the suspect's neighbors described him as "a very sick man."• Sheila spent months looking after her sick mother.• Miguel was sick of being part of a machine that was eating up the city and spitting out the bones.• Gary phoned to say that he's off sick today.• We were dirty, hungry, cold and sick with exhaustion.• Grant Hill played despite being sick with the flu for the past ten days.get sick• Actually, no matter what happens to the business cycle, people will continue to eat and to get sick.• I never used to, that was one thing I was really lucky, I never got sick.• I think about getting sick all of the time.• Well, the boy got sick, and he just got worse and worse.• Humans don't necessarily get sick from eating carrion.• If you get sick, however, people will love you again.• I was getting sick of hearing it.• I mean I would think that she would get sick of it.sick mind• Disjointed thoughts kept floating to the surface of his sick mind from somewhere deep within its murky depths.• It defies belief and makes you question exactly who the law is protecting here: the sick minds or their young victims? sicksick2 noun 1 → the sick2 [uncountable] British English informalSICK/VOMIT vomit The phone box smelt of sick.Examples from the Corpus
sick• On average, companies lose twelve days per employee per year as a result of sickness.• They provided hospitality to travellers, and people with property endowed foundations for the care of the old and the sick.• Under such circumstances it is frequently the sick who are the first to leave.sicksick3 verb → sick something ↔ up→ See Verb tableFrom Longman Business Dictionarysicksick /sɪk/ adjective1a sick company, economy etc is one that has financial or other difficulties such as CORRUPTION (=dishonest, illegal, or immoral behaviour)The President lost popularity when his reforms failed to revive a sick economy.a terminally sick company2off sick not at work because you have an illness or a diseaseHe has been off sick for the last six weeks.Origin sick1 Old English seoc 