tick-tock
"tick-tock" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tick-tock” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The sound of the ticking of an analog clock.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tick-tock · tick-tock · English
tick-tock · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tick-tock |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tick-tock” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tick-tock is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for tick-tock in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Onomatopoeia based on tick. The correct English form is tick-tock, spelled T-I-C-K---T-O-C-K.
Definition
- 1The sound of the ticking of an analog clock.
- 2A warning of some fateful impending event.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tick-tock appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
Etymology
Onomatopoeia based on tick.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.