"tick all the boxes" meaning in English

See tick all the boxes in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈtɪk ɔːl ðə ˈbɒksɪz/ Audio: En-au-tick all the boxes.ogg Forms: ticks all the boxes [present, singular, third-person], ticking all the boxes [participle, present], ticked all the boxes [participle, past], ticked all the boxes [past]
Etymology: An allusion to check marks made beside each of the items in a checklist. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} tick all the boxes (third-person singular simple present ticks all the boxes, present participle ticking all the boxes, simple past and past participle ticked all the boxes)
  1. (idiomatic) To fulfill all the requirements, especially as itemized in a list; to have all the needed characteristics; to complete all the steps in a process in an orderly manner. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: check all the boxes Related terms: check box, tick box Translations (Translations): täyttää kaikki vaatimukset (Finnish), remplir toutes les conditions (French), satisfaire à tous les critères (French), cocher toutes les cases (French), remplir toutes les cases (French), alle Merkmale erfüllen (German), alle Anforderungen erfüllen (German), spełniać wszystkie warunki [imperfective] (Polish)

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to check marks made beside each of the items in a checklist.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ticks all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ticking all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ticked all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ticked all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "tick all the boxes (third-person singular simple present ticks all the boxes, present participle ticking all the boxes, simple past and past participle ticked all the boxes)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009 May 6, Aryn Baker, “With a Rival's Withdrawal, Karzai's Path to Re-Election Eased”, in Time:",
          "text": "As a presidential candidate, Sherzai ticked all the boxes. He is Pashtun; . . . he has the necessary respect . . . ; and he possesses a national reputation.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 November 7, Alastair Macaulay, “Dance Review: Luminaries and Hopefuls Join to Ensure Choreography’s Future”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-06-13:",
          "text": "But he not only ticks all the boxes mentioned by Mr. Martins — musical responsiveness, use of the ballet vocabulary, a striking sense of spatial architecture — he also shows, in this work, much more.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 February 9, “Paul McCloskey bringing army of fans to Amir Khan duel”, in Belfast Telegraph, retrieved 2013-06-13:",
          "text": "\"If he continues ticking all the boxes and progressing and improving as he is, I don't think it will be long before he's on top.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 44:",
          "text": "Assuming you have ticked all your safety boxes, financial incentives decide priorities.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fulfill all the requirements, especially as itemized in a list; to have all the needed characteristics; to complete all the steps in a process in an orderly manner."
      ],
      "id": "en-tick_all_the_boxes-en-verb-G-AKgrZI",
      "links": [
        [
          "fulfill",
          "fulfill"
        ],
        [
          "requirement",
          "requirement"
        ],
        [
          "itemize",
          "itemize"
        ],
        [
          "characteristic",
          "characteristic"
        ],
        [
          "process",
          "process"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To fulfill all the requirements, especially as itemized in a list; to have all the needed characteristics; to complete all the steps in a process in an orderly manner."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "check box"
        },
        {
          "word": "tick box"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "check all the boxes"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "täyttää kaikki vaatimukset"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "remplir toutes les conditions"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "satisfaire à tous les critères"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "cocher toutes les cases"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "remplir toutes les cases"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "alle Merkmale erfüllen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "alle Anforderungen erfüllen"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "spełniać wszystkie warunki"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɪk ɔːl ðə ˈbɒksɪz/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tick all the boxes.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/15/En-au-tick_all_the_boxes.ogg/En-au-tick_all_the_boxes.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/En-au-tick_all_the_boxes.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tick all the boxes"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to check marks made beside each of the items in a checklist.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ticks all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ticking all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ticked all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ticked all the boxes",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "tick all the boxes (third-person singular simple present ticks all the boxes, present participle ticking all the boxes, simple past and past participle ticked all the boxes)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "check box"
    },
    {
      "word": "tick box"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009 May 6, Aryn Baker, “With a Rival's Withdrawal, Karzai's Path to Re-Election Eased”, in Time:",
          "text": "As a presidential candidate, Sherzai ticked all the boxes. He is Pashtun; . . . he has the necessary respect . . . ; and he possesses a national reputation.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010 November 7, Alastair Macaulay, “Dance Review: Luminaries and Hopefuls Join to Ensure Choreography’s Future”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-06-13:",
          "text": "But he not only ticks all the boxes mentioned by Mr. Martins — musical responsiveness, use of the ballet vocabulary, a striking sense of spatial architecture — he also shows, in this work, much more.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 February 9, “Paul McCloskey bringing army of fans to Amir Khan duel”, in Belfast Telegraph, retrieved 2013-06-13:",
          "text": "\"If he continues ticking all the boxes and progressing and improving as he is, I don't think it will be long before he's on top.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 October, Ian Walmsley, “Cleaning up”, in Modern Railways, page 44:",
          "text": "Assuming you have ticked all your safety boxes, financial incentives decide priorities.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To fulfill all the requirements, especially as itemized in a list; to have all the needed characteristics; to complete all the steps in a process in an orderly manner."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fulfill",
          "fulfill"
        ],
        [
          "requirement",
          "requirement"
        ],
        [
          "itemize",
          "itemize"
        ],
        [
          "characteristic",
          "characteristic"
        ],
        [
          "process",
          "process"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To fulfill all the requirements, especially as itemized in a list; to have all the needed characteristics; to complete all the steps in a process in an orderly manner."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "check all the boxes"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈtɪk ɔːl ðə ˈbɒksɪz/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tick all the boxes.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/15/En-au-tick_all_the_boxes.ogg/En-au-tick_all_the_boxes.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/En-au-tick_all_the_boxes.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "täyttää kaikki vaatimukset"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "remplir toutes les conditions"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "satisfaire à tous les critères"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "cocher toutes les cases"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "remplir toutes les cases"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "alle Merkmale erfüllen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "alle Anforderungen erfüllen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "spełniać wszystkie warunki"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tick all the boxes"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.