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n. 1. a. A paper slip or card indicating that its holder has paid for or is entitled to a specified service, right, or consideration: a theater ticket; an airline ticket. b. An e-ticket. 2. A certifying document, especially a captain's or pilot's license. 3. An identifying or descriptive tag attached to merchandise; a label. 4. A list of candidates proposed or endorsed by a political party; a slate. 5. A legal notice to a person charged with a violation of law, especially a minor violation. 6. The proper or desirable thing: A change of scene would be just the ticket for us. 7. Informal A means to an end: "He went to Washington ... to become press secretary ... it was his ticket out of the Delta" (Nicholas Lamann). tr.v. tick·et·ed, tick·et·ing, tick·ets 1. To provide with a ticket for passage or admission: ticket all passengers through to Amsterdam. 2. To attach a ticket to; tag: items that are ticketed in a pawnshop window. 3. To designate for a specified use or end; destine: funds that have been ticketed for research. 4. To serve (a person) with a notice of legal violation: ticket a speeding motorist. [Obsolete French etiquet, label, note, from Old French estiquet, post serving as a target in certain sports, notice, label, from estiquier, to stick, of Germanic origin; see steig- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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