🔊 A ticking sound ⏰ To make clock sounds 🕰️ To pass steadily

ticktock

5 5.9

A steady ticking sound like the one a clock makes

noun
/ˈtɪkˌtɑk/

: tic-tac

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock, ticktock...
ticktock sound

Examples

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock.

Working Girl (1988)
Ticktock, we're on the clock.

G-Force (2009)
Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock.

Working Girl (1988)
Ticktock, ticktock.

Phone Booth (2003)
Ticktock, ticktock.

Phone Booth (2003)
Ticktock, ticktock.

Phone Booth (2003)
Ticktock, ticktock.

Phone Booth (2003)
- Ticktock, ticktock.

D.C. Cab (1983)
In the stillness of the night, the only sound was the soft ticktock of the antique clock on the wall.
I could hear the relentless ticktock of the wall clock as I waited for the meeting to start.

Synonyms

tick

vsticktock

34 2.0

A short light tapping sound from a clock or watch

is a continuous recurring beat rather than one brief click

ticking

vsticktock

27 1.2

A light regular tapping sound made by a clock or watch

is steadier and more continuous rather than a light clicking sound

tick-tock

vsticktock

1 3.3

The regular sound a clock makes as time passes

is the simple steady sound itself without symbolic meaning

tictac

vsticktock

9.3

A steady ticking sound that a clock makes

is the same meaning but used as an alternate written or spoken form

How Regular

ticktock

5 5.9

ticking

27 1.2

clickety

7.5

Surface Forms

ticktock singular

ticktocks plural

Morphology

ticktock = tick + tock (transparent) = tick + tock

The sense names the combined recurring ticking sound; formation is the direct combination of 'tick' and 'tock'.

Etymology

The word ticktock comes from the two short clock sounds tick and tock, which together make the steady 'tick-tock' noise of a clock. So a ticktock (as a noun) is the steady, repeating ticking sound you hear from a clock.