lick up

lick (something) up

To clean, eat, or drink a substance by licking with the tongue. Usually said of an animal. The dog came over and licked up the spilled pasta sauce. Don't lick that up off the table—you're not a cat, for crying out loud!

See also: lick, up

lick up

1. To lap a substance with one's tongue, especially off of some surface. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "lick" and "up." The dog came over and licked up the milk I had spilled on the ground. Please don't lick your mashed potatoes up like that, Billy. You have a fork for a reason!

2. Of flames, to writhe or flicker while traveling up something. The flames licked up the side of the building with an alarming speed.

See also: lick, up

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

lick something up

to clean up all of some substance by licking with the tongue. (Usually said of an animal.) Don't worry about the spilled milk. The dog will lick it up. The dog licked up the milk.

See also: lick, up

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

lick up

v.

To eat or drink something completely by licking: The kitten licked up the milk. The dog licked the spilled food up.

See also: lick, up

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.