tickle

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tickle/ˈtɪkl/

▶verb

• 1 lightly touch in a way that causes itching or twitching and often laughter.

  ■ catch (a trout) by lightly rubbing it so that it moves backwards into the hand.

• 2 be appealing or amusing to.

▶noun an act of tickling or sensation of being tickled.

– phrases
be tickled pink (or to death) informal be extremely amused or pleased.
tickle the ivories informal play the piano.

– derivatives
tickler noun,
tickly adjective.

– origin ME: perh. a frequentative of tick1, or an alt. of Scots and dial. kittle ‘to tickle’ (cf. kittle).