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
The Gophers cashed in when Moore completed a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play along with Ziemer and Snuggerud.
—
Patrick Donnelly, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2025
For those unfamiliar, the format is simple but addictively fun: contestants play a giant game of tic-tac-toe, earning squares by deciding whether celebrity guests' answers to trivia questions are true or false.
—Maggie Ekberg, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
Hollywood Squares involves two contestants who play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2025
The Jackets tied it just three minutes later when Voronkov scored a power-play goal off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that ended with Voronkov ripping a one-timer from the slot.
—Aaron Portzline, The Athletic, 24 Dec. 2024
Greene’s second of the match put the Terriers up 3-1 at the end of a tic-tac-toe collaboration on the power play with Lachance and Celebrini at 10:43.
—Rich Thompson, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2024
Cunningham, however, is playing chess against a Knicks defense playing tic-tac-toe.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Dec. 2024
One looks like a menacing version of tic-tac-toe, while another appears to be set on a horse carousel.
—Peter White, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2024
In recent years, AI researchers have been trying to develop a program that can learn to play any game well—Go, tic-tac-toe, chess, whatever—given only the rules of the game as input.
—Jonathan Schaeffer, IEEE Spectrum, 25 June 2014
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Patrick Donnelly, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2025
For those unfamiliar, the format is simple but addictively fun: contestants play a giant game of tic-tac-toe, earning squares by deciding whether celebrity guests' answers to trivia questions are true or false.
—Maggie Ekberg, Newsweek, 23 Jan. 2025
Hollywood Squares involves two contestants who play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2025
The Jackets tied it just three minutes later when Voronkov scored a power-play goal off a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that ended with Voronkov ripping a one-timer from the slot.
—Aaron Portzline, The Athletic, 24 Dec. 2024
Greene’s second of the match put the Terriers up 3-1 at the end of a tic-tac-toe collaboration on the power play with Lachance and Celebrini at 10:43.
—Rich Thompson, Boston Herald, 23 Mar. 2024
Cunningham, however, is playing chess against a Knicks defense playing tic-tac-toe.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Dec. 2024
One looks like a menacing version of tic-tac-toe, while another appears to be set on a horse carousel.
—Peter White, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2024
In recent years, AI researchers have been trying to develop a program that can learn to play any game well—Go, tic-tac-toe, chess, whatever—given only the rules of the game as input.
—Jonathan Schaeffer, IEEE Spectrum, 25 June 2014
Cite this Entry
“Tic-tac-toe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tic-tac-toe. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
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