ticktack

or tick-tack

[ tik-tak ]

noun

1. a repetitive sound, as of ticking, tapping, knocking, or clicking:

   the ticktack of high heels in the corridor.

2. a device for making a tapping sound, as against a window or door in playing a practical joke.

verb (used without object)

1. to make a repeated ticking or tapping sound:

   Sleet ticktacked against the window panes.

ticktack

/ ˈtɪkˌtæk /

noun

1. a system of sign language, mainly using the hands, by which bookmakers transmit their odds to each other at racecourses
2. a ticking sound, as made by a clock

Word History and Origins

Origin of ticktack¹

1540–50; imitative See tick ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ticktack¹

from tick ¹

Example Sentences

Meanwhile the spit turns with a harmonious and pleasing ticktack.

From Project Gutenberg

To small virtues would they fain lure and laud me; to the ticktack of small happiness would they fain persuade my foot.

From Project Gutenberg

Verily, to such measure and ticktack, it liketh neither to dance nor to stand still.

From Project Gutenberg

Ticktack (tick-tick) has also been repeated by a boy of two years for a watch.

From Project Gutenberg

And there it was that Pere Merlier's mill enlivened with its ticktack a corner of wild verdure.

From Project Gutenberg