ticker
Americannoun
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tickers
plural
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a telegraphic receiving instrument that automatically prints stock prices, market reports, etc., on a paper tape.
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a person or thing that ticks.
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Slang. a watch.
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Slang. the heart.
noun
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slang
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the heart
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a watch
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a person or thing that ticks
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stock exchange the US word for tape machine
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ticker
1820–30; 1880–85 ticker for def. 4; tick 1 + -er 1
Explanation
A device that transmits and displays stock prices is called a ticker. The narrow strip of paper on which this information was printed prior to the 1960s was called ticker tape. The financial districts of cities once had masses of used ticker tape—in old movies and newsreels, you can see ticker tape being tossed from windows as confetti during parades. Today stock tickers transmit information electronically. The name ticker comes from the sound the original machines made, similar to a ticking clock (something that, along with your beating heart, can be called a ticker colloquially).
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pershing Square USA, known by its ticker PSUS, gained only 0.6% on its investments since its debut in late April through Tuesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The company is set to debut under the ticker “JMKE” on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday at a valuation of around $8 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Four years later, without Cruyff, they reached the final again, only to be beaten by Argentina in extra time under a sky of Buenos Aires ticker tape.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Shares, which trade under the ticker WEN, dropped 2.4% to $7.68 as of midday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Curls of ticker tape in the national colors coiled along the yardsticks of our gala dinner.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
In April, I mentioned research showing that some companies were boosting their share prices by adding “AI” to their corporate names or stock tickers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The message from those stock tickers is clear: Even A.I.-bullish investors are nervous about how the biggest companies in the space will fare without jacking up costs on all their products going forward.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
These were the most-searched tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m.:
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Occasionally, playful-sounding tickers can be a bait-and-switch, as in POET, for a maker of AI hardware—not exactly John Keats material.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
At three minutes past noon the tickers clicked out: "It is reported that John Dumont is dying."
From The Cost by David Graham Phillips
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
