tic-tac-toe
noun
variants
or tick-tack-toe
: a game in which two players alternately put Xs and Os in compartments of a figure formed by two vertical lines crossing two horizontal lines and each tries to get a row of three Xs or three Os before the opponent does
Examples of tic-tac-toe in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lowry scored on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Perfetti and Lowry 13 minutes in that Garand had little chance of preventing.
—
CBS News, 22 Mar. 2026
But 39 seconds into the second period, with some leftover power-play time, the Eagles did take the lead on a tic-tac-toe play by a trio of Bruins’ draft picks.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2026
In these types of games, one player tries to block another from moving; one example is tic-tac-toe.
—Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 10 Feb. 2026
This design features a mix of sparkly red tops, a heart-centric tic-tac-toe board, and a love letter.
—Kara Jillian Brown, InStyle, 31 Jan. 2026
And again, the Wild answered, with Faber capping a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play with Kaprizov and Danila Yurov.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026
In another room, the robot played a simplified version of tic-tac-toe with a patient.
—Hallie Golden The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2025
This acrylic and wood tic-tac-toe board brings style and function to any room.
—Jaclyn Kaufman
May Earn A Commission If You Buy Through Our Referral Links. This Content Was Created By A Team That Works Independently From The Fox Newsroom., FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
One of the games Yowell and the Tennessee students played with the New Orleans children was nine square, a large three-dimensional tic-tac-toe board the students used to save money to play at the church, the pastor said.
—Jay Powell, Nashville Tennessean, 20 Oct. 2025
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CBS News, 22 Mar. 2026
But 39 seconds into the second period, with some leftover power-play time, the Eagles did take the lead on a tic-tac-toe play by a trio of Bruins’ draft picks.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 21 Mar. 2026
In these types of games, one player tries to block another from moving; one example is tic-tac-toe.
—Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 10 Feb. 2026
This design features a mix of sparkly red tops, a heart-centric tic-tac-toe board, and a love letter.
—Kara Jillian Brown, InStyle, 31 Jan. 2026
And again, the Wild answered, with Faber capping a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play with Kaprizov and Danila Yurov.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026
In another room, the robot played a simplified version of tic-tac-toe with a patient.
—Hallie Golden The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2025
This acrylic and wood tic-tac-toe board brings style and function to any room.
—Jaclyn Kaufman
May Earn A Commission If You Buy Through Our Referral Links. This Content Was Created By A Team That Works Independently From The Fox Newsroom., FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2025
One of the games Yowell and the Tennessee students played with the New Orleans children was nine square, a large three-dimensional tic-tac-toe board the students used to save money to play at the church, the pastor said.
—Jay Powell, Nashville Tennessean, 20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tic-tac-toe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tic-tac-toe. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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