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.
7. A beer drinker who aims to try as many different beers as possible and keeps a record of all the beers they have drunk.
   • 2006, Richard Stedman, The Football and Real Ale Guide 2006-07: Division 1‎^[1], →ISBN, page 5:

     My weekday visit found a great mix of luncheoners, locals and real ale tickers.

   • 2015, Max Bahnson, Prague: A Pisshead's Pub Guide‎^[2], →ISBN, page 5:

     This book has not been written with the goal of pleasing beer geeks, tickers, fetishists, raters or advocates.

   • 2019, Michael Ian Borer, Vegas Brews: Craft Beer and the Birth of a Local Scene‎^[3], →ISBN, page 168:

     Today's tickers are equipped with smartphones with downloaded apps like Untappd. I've seen tickers peruse beer lists for new beers they haven't tried.

Derived terms

• news ticker, stock ticker

Translations

a measuring or reporting device

(colloquial) heart — see also heart

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

birdwatcher

• French: cocheur m

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.