ticker

English

Etymology

From tick +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪkə(ɹ)/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪkə(ɹ)

Noun

ticker (plural tickers)

1. One who makes a tick mark.
   • 1992, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard):

     A teacher now is a typist, a printer, a laboratory assistant, a designer of work sheets and booklets, a form-filler, a ticker of boxes and a sender of returns to faculty heads, to head teachers, to education authorities and to the Ministers […]

2. A measuring or reporting device, particularly one which makes a ticking sound as the measured events occur.

   The ticker was showing an increased rate of flow.

3. A ticker tape, either the traditional paper kind or a scrolling message on a screen.

   I checked the prices on the ticker one last time before placing the trade.

   To my surprise, the ticker showed that the deal had already gone through.

4. (slang) A heart, especially a human one.

   My ticker gave out and I had to go to the hospital for surgery.

5. (slang) A watch (timepiece).
   • 2011, Maggie MacKeever, The Tyburn Waltz:

     A right nice ticker it was. Real gold.

6. (birdwatching, slang) A birdwatcher who aims to see (and tick off on a list) as many bird species as possible.

Derived terms

• news ticker, stock ticker

Translations

a measuring or reporting device

(colloquial) heart — see also heart

• Finnish: pumppu (fi)
• Hungarian: ketyegő (hu)

Further reading

• “ticker”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “ticker”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “ticker”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “ticker”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.