Part 794

To stick by. (a) To adhere closely to; to be firm in supporting. "We are your only friends; stick by us, and we will stick by you." Davenant. (b) To be troublesome by adhering. "I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me." Pope. -- To stick out. (a) To project; to be prominent. "His bones that were not seen stick out." Job xxxiii. 21. (b) To persevere in a purpose; to hold out; as, the garrison stuck out until relieved. [Colloq.] -- To stick to, to be persevering in holding to; as, to stick to a party or cause. "The advantage will be on our side if we stick to its essentials." Addison. -- To stick up, to stand erect; as, his hair sticks up. -- To stick up for, to assert and defend; as, to stick up for one's rights or for a friend. [Colloq.] -- To stick upon, to dwell upon; not to forsake. "If the matter be knotty, the mind must stop and buckle to it, and stick upon it with labor and thought." Locke.

Stick"ed (?), obs. imp. of Stick. Stuck.

And in the sand her ship sticked so fast.

Chaucer.

They sticked not to give their bodies to be burnt.

Sir T. Browne.

Stick"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, sticks; as, a bill sticker.

2. That which causes one to stick; that which puzzles or poses. [Colloq.] Tackeray.

3. (Mus.) In the organ, a small wooden rod which connects (in part) a key and a pallet, so as to communicate motion by pushing.

4. Same as Paster, 2. [Political Cant, U.S.]

Stick"ful (?), n.; pl. Stickfuls (&?;). (Print.) As much set type as fills a composing stick.

Stick"i*ness (?), n. The quality of being sticky; as, the stickiness of glue or paste.

Stick"ing, a. & n. from Stick, v.

Sticking piece, a piece of beef cut from the neck. [Eng.] -- Sticking place, the place where a thing sticks, or remains fast; sticking point.

But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail.

Shak.

-- Sticking plaster, an adhesive plaster for closing wounds, and for similar uses. -- Sticking point. Same as Sticking place, above.

Stick"it (?), a. Stuck; spoiled in making. [Scot.]

Stickit minister, a candidate for the clerical office who fails, disqualified by incompetency or immorality.

Stick"-lac` (?), n. See the Note under Lac.

Stic"kle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stickled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stickling.] [Probably fr. OE. stightlen, sti&?;tlen, to dispose, arrange, govern, freq. of stihten, AS. stihtan: cf. G. stiften to found, to establish.] 1. To separate combatants by intervening. [Obs.]

When he [the angel] sees half of the Christians killed, and the rest in a fair way of being routed, he stickles betwixt the remainder of God's host and the race of fiends.

Dryden.

2. To contend, contest, or altercate, esp. in a pertinacious manner on insufficient grounds.

Fortune, as she 's wont, turned fickle, And for the foe began to stickle.

Hudibras.

While for paltry punk they roar and stickle.

Dryden.