tick-tickn.
/ˈtɪkˌtɪk/ An imitation of the ticking of a clock or watch, or a similar sound; hence a child's name for a clock or watch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun]
clock1370
knock1502
watch-clock1592
timist1711
goer1730
tick-ticka1777
dial plate1796
hall-clock1815
tick-tock1947
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > regular or alternating rhythm > ticking
tick-tackc1550
tick1680
ticking1748
tick-ticka1777
tick-tock1847
tick-ticking1897
tick-a-tack1898
tick-tockinga1947
a1777 S. Foote Cozeners (1778) iii. ii. 82 Marianne, who opened the window? Mar. Little Massa, to shew me de tick-tick.
a1849 J. C. Mangan 20 Golden Years Ago viii Tick-tick, tick-tick!—Not a sound save Time's.
1864 J. Glaisher in J. Wylde Circle of Sci. (c1865) I. 1209/2 We heard..the tick-tick of a threshing machine.
1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 214 The child who says..tick-tick for watch, or puff-puff for train, is an authority on the origin of human speech.
Derivatives
tick-tick v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > tick
tick1721
tick-tick1755
tick-tack1842
tock1913
tick-tock1921
1755 B. Bright's New Jrnl. 6 If..his Mistress..is absent, the Clock tick-ticks very slow.
tick-ticking n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > regular or alternating rhythm > ticking
tick-tackc1550
tick1680
ticking1748
tick-ticka1777
tick-tock1847
tick-ticking1897
tick-a-tack1898
tick-tockinga1947
1897 Daily News 17 May 3/3 The tick-ticking of the [telegraph] machines.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.1755