Meanings
plural tickey boxes · alternative tickey-box · alternative ticky box · alternative ticky-box
- South AfricaslangA payphone.
[…] He phones his mother in Hopetown every afternoon from the tickey box in the hostel.'
2002, Michiel Heyns, The Children's Day, Jonathan Ball Publishers, published 2002, →ISBN, page 811 more example
“Come with us. Father may even have some coins for another tickey box. One that works,” Vusi said with mirth.
2018, Kate S. Richards, Trainsurfer
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From tickey, obsolete South African slang for a threepenny coin (the cost of a payphone call at the time of the term's origin), and box (telephone kiosk).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
tickey box. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tickey%20box
“tickey box.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tickey%20box. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tickey box,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tickey%20box.
Source: tickey box on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.