Meaning & use
lick your lips
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
To pass your tongue over your lips, often because they are dry or because food looks or tastes delicious.
Grammar: Needs a possessive that matches the subject: she licked her lips, not 'she licked your lips'.
Patterns
- lick your lips
The wind was so dry that she kept licking her lips.
He licked his lips as the waiter set the pizza on the table.
The dog licked its lips and stared at the sandwich.
phraseidiomfigurative
To show eager, often greedy, anticipation of something that promises pleasure or profit.
Grammar: Usually followed by at, over or about, plus the thing wanted: licking their lips at the prospect.
Patterns
- lick your lips at something
- lick your lips over something
Rival lawyers were licking their lips at the chance to question him.
Fans are licking their lips over next week's final.
Investors licked their lips when the takeover price was announced.
Word forms
| third person singular | licks his/her lips |
|---|---|
| past tense | licked his/her lips |
| -ing form | licking his/her lips |
Common combinations
- lick your lips nervously
- He licked his lips nervously before starting his speech.
- lick your lips in anticipation
- The chef's guests were licking their lips in anticipation.
- lick your lips at the prospect
- Critics are licking their lips at the prospect of a failure.
- lick your lips hungrily
- The cat licked its lips hungrily as the fish was served.
Synonyms and how they differ
- salivate
- Salivate is more formal and often suggests physical drooling, while lick your lips can describe a milder, visible hint of craving.
- relish
- Relish describes enjoying something and has no mention of the tell-tale gesture.
- look forward to
- This is neutral and polite, while lick your lips suggests greed or a slightly ruthless pleasure.
Opposites
Word family
- lip noun
- either of the two edges of the mouth
- lick verb
- to pass the tongue over something
- lip-smacking adjective
- very tasty
- lip-licking adjective
- showing or causing eager appetite
Practice
'Reporters were licking their lips at the chance to cover the scandal.' What does the sentence suggest?
Choose one answer.
Here the idiom is figurative and expresses eager, slightly greedy anticipation. Nervousness is the wrong feeling, and the literal dry-lips reading does not fit 'at the chance'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lick your lips”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.