tick-tock

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The sound of the ticking of an analog clock.

2. 2

   Time is running out

   Time is running out; a deadline is approaching.

   • Near-synonym: clock is ticking
   • You may be smart enough to elude the law for five years, but your time has run out. Tick tock, motherfucker.
3. 3

   To make continual clicking sounds like those of an analog clock

   To make continual clicking sounds like those of an analog clock; to tick.

4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      When marching, to swing arms and legs on the same side at the same time.

      • Ex-military didn't pass up the chance to harshly criticise the mediocre stepping, noting their "tick-tocking" technique which is a term used in the army, describing moving arm and leg on the same side in the same direction while marching.
   2. 5

      The sound of a ticking clock.

      • Stepping inside from the courtyard, there was silence except for the tick-tock of the antique grandfather clock in the great hall. The hulking cream-and-gray flagstones underfoot had been worn away from centuries of service.
   3. 6

      A step-by-step account of an event or timeline.

The neighborhood

• neighborsecond hand