A hard-bodied tick, Ixodes scapularis, of the eastern and northern Midwestern United States, one of four species of tick that is carrier of Lyme disease.

A bed mattress made from a coarse cotton material, or shoddy, and filled with (usually) straw. / Also used to refer to the empty mattress bag.

A mark (often one of a series) made to show that an operation or task has been completed.

(slang, simile) Drunk, inebriated. / Fully inflated; swollen near to bursting. / (slang, simile) Unwilling to spend money.

A tick-borne illness caused by a neurotoxin produced in the tick's salivary gland, causing weakness, paralysis, and potentially respiratory failure.

(of time) To count down to zero (i.e. signaling the end (or start) of something).

(of a clock or other timer) To count the time down to zero.

The sound of a ticking clock. / (colloquial) A warning of some fateful impending event.

The sound of a ticking clock. / (journalism) A step-by-step account of an event or timeline.

A water mite.