noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A game in which two players take turns placing circles and crosses on a 3x3 grid and attempt to obtain three of the same symbols in a straight line. uncountable
2. 2
   a game in which two players alternately put crosses and circles in one of the compartments of a square grid of nine spaces; the object is to get a row of three crosses or three circles before the opponent does wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

noughts and crossesexie-osiesnaughts and crossestick-tack-toeticktacktoeticktacktoo

Example

More examples

"A tic-tac-toe match is usually quick."

Etymology

Imitative; from tick-tack, used earlier to denote games in which the pieces made clicking sounds.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.