tick tack

noun tick tacks

1. countable, onomatopoeic, uncountable The sound of repeated tapping, knocking, or clicking. But come to the clock, Mary. Remember, our lives are short, and they contain only a certain number of "tick tacks;" we cannot, therefore, afford to waste them.
2. countable A device used to tap on a window or door from a distance. I got me a hammer and nails with the heavy lead sinker offen my fishnet, and it wasn't long before the finest tick-tack you ever saw was working against the Spiegelnails' parlor window, with me in a lilac-bush operating the string that kept the weight a-swinging.
3. UK, alternative, uncountable Alternative form of tic-tac, a sign language used by bookmakers.