stick [OE] The two English words spelled stick are both Old English. The noun, ‘a thin piece of wood’, and the verb, meaning ‘to push something pointed into’ and ‘to cling, adhere’, are probably connected, with the basic idea being one of piercing or pricking. Sticky [L17th] for adhesive comes via the idea of using something sharp to attach one item to another. If a person comes to a sticky end they meet a nasty death or other fate. The phrase is first found in a 1904 account of a US baseball game, and by 1916 had made its way to Britain. See also wrong.