Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The game of jackstraws.
- noun One of the straws used in playing jackstraws.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A long splinter of wood, bone, ivory, or the like, such as is used in playing some games, as jackstraws.
- noun pl, A game played with such pegs, pins, or splinters, as push-pin or jackstraws.
- noun A small peg used in keeping count in some games, as cribbage.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun See
spilikin .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One of the
straws used in the game ofjackstraws (spillikins )
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Probably alteration of Flemish spelleken, diminutive of spelle, pin, from Middle Flemish, ultimately from Medieval Latin spīnula, diminutive of Latin spīna, thorn.]
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Examples
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It's so very difficult to play a game with a spillikin on one side and a sledge-hammer on the other. '
The Explorer 1919
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