1 [count] : a piece of paper that allows you to see a show, participate in an event, travel on a vehicle, etc. ▪ May I see your tickets, please? = Tickets, please. ▪ We bought tickets for/to the opera. ▪ a movie/concert ticket ▪ a bus/train ticket ▪ She bought a one-way ticket to New York. [=a ticket that allows her to travel to New York] ▪ (US) a round-trip ticket = (Brit) a return ticket [=a ticket that allows you to travel to one place and then return back to the place you left] —see also season ticket
2 [count] : a card or piece of paper that shows that you are participating in a contest, raffle, etc. ▪ a winning lottery ticket —see also scratch ticket
3 [count] : a piece of paper that officially tells you that you have driven or parked your car improperly and that you will have to pay a fine ▪ I got a ticket for speeding. —see also parking ticket, speeding ticket
4 [count] Brit : a piece of paper that is attached to an item in a store and that gives information about its price, size, etc. ▪ a price ticket [=tag]
5 [singular] chiefly US : a list of the candidates supported by a political party in an election ▪ The senator heads her party's ticket. [=she is the leader of her party in the election] ▪ the Republican/Democratic ticket —see also split ticket split the ticket at ¹split
6 [singular] : something that makes it possible to get or achieve something that you want ▪ She believed that education was the/her ticket to a good job. ▪ He expected the novel to be his ticket to fame and fortune. ▪ This job could be their ticket out of poverty. —see also meal ticket
7 the ticket informal + somewhat old-fashioned : the correct or most desirable thing : the thing that is needed or wanted ▪ Compromise, now that's the ticket. [=that's what we need] —often used in the phrase just the ticket ▪ For a romantic dinner, candles are just the ticket.