"the sticks" meaning in English

See the sticks in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-the sticks.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Possibly derived from 1800s Chinook Jargon stick (“tree, forest”), from English stick. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|chn|stick|t=tree, forest}} Chinook Jargon stick (“tree, forest”), {{m|en|stick}} stick Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} the sticks (uncountable)
  1. (Canada, US, informal, derogatory) A remote, rural area; a place that is removed from civilization such as the boondocks. Tags: Canada, US, derogatory, informal, uncountable Synonyms: backwoods, boonies, boondocks, hinterland, middle of nowhere, remote place
    Sense id: en-the_sticks-en-noun-DB-3nQNi Categories (other): American English, Canadian English
  2. (American football) The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Football (American) Synonyms: the chains, the yardsticks
    Sense id: en-the_sticks-en-noun-sQoib7~t Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 39 61 Topics: American-football, ball-games, football, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports

Download JSON data for the sticks meaning in English (3.8kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "chn",
        "3": "stick",
        "t": "tree, forest"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinook Jargon stick (“tree, forest”)",
      "name": "bor"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "stick"
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  "etymology_text": "Possibly derived from 1800s Chinook Jargon stick (“tree, forest”), from English stick.",
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
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        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She grew up in the sticks and later moved to the city.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1904 The American Missionary, \"A Town of Colored People in Mississippi\" by Rev. B.F. Ousley, vol. 58, no. 9 (November, 1904), p. 295",
          "text": "Most of the farming at present is done in the \"sticks,\" that is, in the large, dead, and often blackened trunks of trees standing in most of the cultivated fields around. There are but few new towns in the Delta where the \"sticks\" are not to be seen, and much damage is sometimes done when these old \"deadenings,\" as they are called, are set on fire."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A remote, rural area; a place that is removed from civilization such as the boondocks."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_sticks-en-noun-DB-3nQNi",
      "links": [
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        [
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Canada, US, informal, derogatory) A remote, rural area; a place that is removed from civilization such as the boondocks."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "backwoods"
        },
        {
          "word": "boonies"
        },
        {
          "word": "boondocks"
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        {
          "word": "hinterland"
        },
        {
          "word": "middle of nowhere"
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        {
          "word": "remote place"
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        {
          "text": "They gained just enough on that play to move the sticks and continue the drive.",
          "type": "example"
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      "glosses": [
        "The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball."
      ],
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        [
          "first down",
          "first down"
        ],
        [
          "line to gain",
          "line to gain"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American football) The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "the chains"
        },
        {
          "word": "the yardsticks"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/En-au-the_sticks.ogg",
      "tags": [
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    }
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{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Chinook Jargon",
    "English terms derived from Chinook Jargon",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncountable nouns"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "name": "bor"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "the sticks (uncountable)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
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        {
          "text": "She grew up in the sticks and later moved to the city.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1904 The American Missionary, \"A Town of Colored People in Mississippi\" by Rev. B.F. Ousley, vol. 58, no. 9 (November, 1904), p. 295",
          "text": "Most of the farming at present is done in the \"sticks,\" that is, in the large, dead, and often blackened trunks of trees standing in most of the cultivated fields around. There are but few new towns in the Delta where the \"sticks\" are not to be seen, and much damage is sometimes done when these old \"deadenings,\" as they are called, are set on fire."
        }
      ],
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      ],
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        "(Canada, US, informal, derogatory) A remote, rural area; a place that is removed from civilization such as the boondocks."
      ],
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        {
          "word": "backwoods"
        },
        {
          "word": "boonies"
        },
        {
          "word": "boondocks"
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          "word": "hinterland"
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          "word": "middle of nowhere"
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          "word": "remote place"
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          "type": "example"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball."
      ],
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          "first down",
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        [
          "line to gain",
          "line to gain"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American football) The set of yardage markers used by a chain crew to indicate the ten yards between the line of scrimmage from the previous first down and the line to gain, which the offense must reach in their series of four downs in order to retain possession of the ball."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "the chains"
        },
        {
          "word": "the yardsticks"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
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      "tags": [
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  "word": "the sticks"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (82c8ff9 and f4967a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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