tic-tac-toe

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a game in which two players alternately mark a three-by-three grid and try to complete a row of three matching symbols

   They played tic-tac-toe on a scrap of paper while waiting for the bus.

An imitative name related to earlier tick-tack, used for games whose pieces or pencil strokes made repeated clicking or tapping sounds. The modern three-by-three game acquired several parallel spellings.

Topics