Word.ws English Dictionary

tick tock

tick tock is the alternative form of tick-tock.

Meaning of tick-tock

Interjection

  1. The sound of the ticking of an analog clock.
  2. (colloquial) Time is running out; a deadline is approaching.
    • Near-synonym: clock is ticking
    1. (colloquial) Expresses warning of some fateful, impending event.

See all 7 meanings of tick-tock

Forms of tick tock

pluraltick tocks

Questions about tick tock

What is tick tock the alternative form of?
Tick tock is the alternative form of tick-tock.

Words near tick tock in the dictionary

  1. tick paralysis
  2. tick past
  3. tick tack
  4. tick tacks
  5. tick tat toe
  6. tick tock
  7. tick tocks
  8. tick trefoil
  9. tick-and-flick
  10. tick-based
  11. tick-bite fever

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tick tock (page history and authors); tick-tock (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “tick tock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tick_tock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.