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 With Marshall as its handsome host, The Hollywood Squares debuted on Oct. 17, 1966, out of a studio in Burbank, with nine celebrities seating in a huge tic-tac-toe board. Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Aug. 2024 The tic-tac-toe game featured two contestants agreeing or disagreeing with celebrities who provided answers to Marshall’s questions — which ranged from silly to ribald. Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 15 Aug. 2024 The bottom line: Robert Shumaker, a great ape researcher and official with the Indianapolis Zoo, lets chimpanzees and orangutans play touch-screen games like tic-tac-toe to visitors' delight. Andrew Keatts, Axios, 24 July 2024 Anyone could learn how to play perfect tic-tac-toe in one sitting by memorizing a few move sequences. Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 16 July 2024 There's Club Pixar, which is an interactive DJ dance party that also features games like cornhole and tic-tac-toe. Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2024 This jumbo pack includes 20 colors of washable chalk for endless iterations of sidewalk art, hopscotch, or tic-tac-toe. Sharon Brandwein, Southern Living, 13 Feb. 2024 Customize it by having your child’s name printed on the front and choosing a personalized back that either has a picture of your child, a tic-tac-toe game, or a word block design. Dorian Smith-Garcia, Parents, 7 Feb. 2024 Dmitry Orlov intercepted an outlet pass by Brock Faber and kicked it back into the Wild zone, setting up a quick tic-tac-toe rush that Martin Necas ended with a one-timer from the left circle at 14:02. John Shipley, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tic-tac-toe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

tic-tac-toe, former game in which players with eyes shut brought a pencil down on a slate marked with numbers and scored the number hit

First Known Use

circa 1866, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tic-tac-toe was circa 1866

Dictionary Entries Near tic-tac-toe

Cite this Entry

“Tic-tac-toe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tic-tac-toe. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

tic-tac-toe

noun
variants or tick-tack-toe
ˌtik-ˌtak-ˈtō
: a game in which two players by turns put crosses and zeros in compartments of a figure formed by two vertical lines crossing two horizontal lines and each tries to get a row of three crosses or three zeros before the opponent does
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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