Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb With great speed.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Headlong; very fast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb Quickly; as fast as possible; in short order.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[lickety, very fast, alteration of lick, fast (dialectal) + split.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested about 1860, in the US, as a fanciful alteration of lick and the verb split. lick appears to have something to do with animals made to go faster by means of a "lick" of a whip, although it may have also originated due to a preference for rapid licking (the "quick lick").

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Examples

Comments

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  • an old fav. Now I should start my least favorite word list with fav. Is there a word for using words that you dislike?

    June 21, 2007

  • I believe the word you're looking for is yuck. ;-)

    June 21, 2007

  • Merriam Webster says of lickety-split

    Etymology: probably irregular from lick + split

    Date: circa 1859

    : at great speed

    November 9, 2009