Sicked

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause someone to attack or pursue aggressively or to instruct a dog to attack or to become ill or nauseated
2. To direct an animal or person toward confrontation; to send forth with intent to cause harm; to experience symptoms of sickness or discomfort
3. To incite pursuit or aggression by another; to command an attack; to suffer physical distress often related to illness or nausea

Etymology: The verb "sicked" is simply the past tense of "sic," the old command to set a dog on someone. The surprising part is that "sic" is not an ordinary command at all. It is an altered form of "seek," so the dog was originally told to go and seek out its target. Over time "seek" was clipped and worn down to "sic," and it became a verb in its own right, meaning to urge a dog or person to attack. The word has a second, unrelated ancestry in the adjective "sick." That word traces back to Old English "sēoc," meaning ill or in poor health. The two words share no root; their sound similarity is a coincidence of later English. Because the verb "sic" was spelled and pronounced the same as "sick" in many dialects, the two words are sometimes confused.

Synonyms: sent, ordered, commanded

Antonyms: withheld, stopped, prevented