Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RICK, n. [Sax. hreac or hrig; Ir. cruach; W. crug, a rick, an apostem, a heap, a stack, a hillock; crugaw, to heap or pile, to swell, to grow into an apostem. It. coincides with the G. rücken, D. rug, the back, Eng. ridge.]

A heap or pile of grain or hay in the field or open air, but sheltered with a kind of roof. In America, we usually give this name to a long pile; the round and conical pile being called stack. In the north of England, it is said this name is given to small piles of corn in the field. Mortimer.