tick-tack-toe

or tick-tack-too tic-tac-toe, tit-tat-toe

[ tik-tak-toh ]
/ ˌtɪk tækˈtoʊ /

noun

a simple game in which one player marks down only X's and another only O's, each alternating in filling in any of the nine compartments of a figure formed by two vertical lines crossed by two horizontal lines, the winner being the first to fill in three marks in any horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row.
a children's game consisting of trying, with the eyes shut, to bring a pencil down upon one of a set of circled numbers, as on a slate, the number touched being counted as a score.

Origin of tick-tack-toe

1865–70; imitative of sound, as of bringing a pencil down on slate; see ticktack

British Dictionary definitions for tick-tack-toe

tick-tack-toe

tick-tack-too (ˌtɪktækˈtuː)

/ (ˌtɪktækˈtəʊ) /

noun

US and Canadian a game in which two players, one using a nought, "O", the other a cross, "X", alternately mark one square out of nine formed by two pairs of crossed lines, the winner being the first to get three of his symbols in a row Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): noughts and crosses

Word Origin for tick-tack-toe

C19: from ticktack (meaning: an obsolete variety of backgammon)