Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Tac-au-tac

Tac-au-tac , noun

[French, from riposter du tac au tac to parry (where tac imitates the sound made by the steel).]

(Fencing) The parry which is connected with a riposte; also, a series of quick attacks and parries in which neither fencer gains a point.