tick-tack-toe

1.6

A game for two players who take turns marking a three by three grid to make three in a row

noun
/ˈtɪkˌtækˈtoʊ/

: tres en raya

He challenged his sister to a game of tick-tack-toe after dinner.

Examples

The children quickly drew a tick-tack-toe board on the sidewalk with chalk.
To keep the children busy, we drew a tick-tack-toe grid on the tablecloth during lunch.
Whenever it rained, we would play tick-tack-toe on paper to pass the time.
Let's play tick-tack-toe!
I love playing tick-tack-toe during lunch breaks.
During our family gatherings, we often play a game of tick-tack-toe to entertain the kids.
The teacher used a large board to demonstrate how to play tick-tack-toe with the students.

Synonyms

tic-tac-toe

vstick-tack-toe

3 2.2

A simple game for two people where each places Xs or Os to make three in a row

is the same game but spelled with different syllables

ticktacktoe

vstick-tack-toe

1.8

A game for two people who take turns marking a 3 by 3 grid to make three in a row

is identical in meaning but appears with hyphens in its form

ticktacktoo

vstick-tack-toe

3.7

A two-player game where players place Xs and Os to make three in a row

is the same game but differs in the informal title spelling

tit-tat-toe

vstick-tack-toe

Archaic

4.5

A simple two-player game of X and O on a 3 by 3 grid to make three in a row

is the same game but uses a different informal spelling

noughts and crosses

vstick-tack-toe

2.5

A two-player game of marking X or O on a 3 by 3 grid to make three in a row

uses different mark names rather than the nought and cross terms

Surface Forms

tick-tack-toe singular

tick-tack-toes plural

Etymology

Tick-tack-toe is a playful three-word name made of tick, tack, and toe, where tick and tack are like a 'small sound' and the three words give a quick three-beat rhythm. A helpful way to remember the game is that the name itself has three parts — just like the aim of the game, which is to make three of your marks in a row.