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tick off

A2 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To put a checkmark next to something you've finished, to tell someone off for doing wrong, or to make someone feel angry.

Literal meaning: To place a tick (checkmark) next to an item — transparent for the list sense.

Meanings

1 A2 neutral

(British English) To mark an item on a list with a tick to show it has been completed or acknowledged.

"She ticked off each ingredient on the shopping list as she put it in the basket."

Grammar: separable
2 B1 idiomatic informal

(British English, informal) To reprimand or scold someone.

"The teacher ticked him off in front of the whole class for not doing his homework."

Grammar: separable
3 B1 idiomatic informal

(American English, informal) To irritate or anger someone.

"It really ticked me off when he took credit for all my hard work."

"That kind of thing ticks me off."

— Common informal American expression; representative usage noted across popular media including sitcoms such as 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends'
Grammar: separable
Usage notes

'Tick off' meaning to mark a list item is primarily British English; Americans say 'check off'. 'Tick off' meaning to reprimand is British informal. 'Tick off' meaning to annoy is primarily American English (e.g. 'That really ticked me off'). Context usually makes the intended sense clear.

Commonly used with

list item box name task someone

Forms

Base
tick off
I/you/we/they
3rd person
ticks off
he/she/it
Past simple
ticked off
yesterday
Past participle
ticked off
have + pp
-ing form
ticking off
continuous

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Synonyms

check off mark off cross off reprimand annoy irritate

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