bandy
bandy Lexical Profile
bandy Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To pass on, discuss, or circulate an idea, name, or rumor casually and repeatedly (usually used with 'about' or 'around').
"Several ambitious proposals were bandied about during the committee meeting, but none were formally adopted."
To exchange words, remarks, or arguments back and forth in a disputatious or spirited manner.
"She had no patience left to bandy words with the stubborn clerk."
To hit, toss, or throw a ball or other object back and forth from one person to another.
"The players bandied the ball across the court during their warm-up."
• noun
A winter team sport played on a large sheet of ice, in which skaters use curved sticks to direct a small ball into the opposing team's goal, considered an early precursor to ice hockey.
"Bandy remains a popular winter sport in Sweden, Russia, and Finland."
A hockey stick or club curved at the lower end, used in playing the game of bandy.
"The museum displayed a carved wooden bandy from the eighteenth century."
• adjective
Having an outward curve or bend, especially of a person's legs.
"The old jockey walked across the paddock on slightly bandy legs."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a verb, 'bandy' is most commonly used in the passive phrasal construction 'bandied about' (e.g., 'names were bandied about') or in the idiom 'bandy words with' (to argue or exchange retorts).
• Rhymes for bandy
Word Origin & Etymology
Introduced in the late 16th century as a term in real tennis meaning to hit a ball back and forth, probably from Middle French 'bander'. The adjective sense ('curved outward') derives from the bent stick used in the 17th-century ball game of bandy.