tic-tac-toe

== English == === Alternative forms === The "c" in tic, tac, or both may be replaced with a "ck" or with a "t": tick-tack-toe; tick-tat-toe; tit-tat-toe, etc. The phrase, or one of the above variations, may be presented without hyphens: tic tac toe; tick tat toe; tit tat toe, etc. === Etymology === Imitative; from tick-tack, used earlier to denote games in which the pieces made clicking sounds. === Noun === tic-tac-toe (uncountable) (games) 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. ==== Synonyms ==== noughts and crosses or naughts and crosses (chiefly British) X's and O's (UK, Ireland) exie-osies (Northern Ireland) zeroes and crosses or zero cross (India) X O or X-O (India) ==== Descendants ==== → German: Tic-Tac-Toe → French: tic-tac-toe → Korean: 틱택토 (tiktaekto) ==== Translations ==== === References ===