tick-a-tick
[f. same source as tick v.1 or n.3]
An imitation of the sound of a clock or watch; ticking; in quot. 1805, throbbing of the pulse. So tick-a-tack. (Cf. tick-tack n., tick-tick.)
| 1805 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. IX. 243 Munro shall count of pulse his tick-a-tick. 1883 D. R. Sellars in Mod. Scot. Poets VI. 157 Tick-a-tick, tick-a-tick, My old clock's voice I hear. 1898 Doyle in Speaker 5 Mar. 298/1 The clock goes tick-a-tack. |