rick

Meanings

Noun

• Straw, hay etc. stored in a stack for winter fodder, commonly protected with thatch.
• A stack of wood, especially cut to a regular length; also used as a measure of wood, typically four by eight feet.
• A brand new (naive) boot camp inductee.

Verb

• To heap up (hay, etc.) in ricks.
• To slightly sprain or strain the neck, back, ankle etc.

Origin

• From Middle English *rykke, from Old English hrycce ("rick, heap, pile"), cognate with Scots ruk ("rick"), Norwegian ruka ("rick, haystack"). Related also to Old English hrēac, from Proto-Germanic *hraukaz ("heap"). Further relations: Dutch rook, Norwegian rauk, Swedish rök, Icelandic hraukur.
• From earlier wrick, from Middle English wricken, wrikken, probably from Middle Dutch *verwricken or Middle Low German vorwricken. Cognate with West Frisian wrikke, wrikje, Dutch wrikken, Low German wricken, German wricken, Danish vrikke, Swedish vricka.
• Abbreviated form from recruit.