checkers
checkers Lexical Profile
checkers Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American A classic two-player strategy board game played on an alternating dark-and-light squared board, in which players move round disk-shaped pieces diagonally and capture opposing pieces by jumping over them.
"My grandfather taught me how to play checkers on a rainy afternoon at the cabin."
North American The flat, round playing pieces, typically red and black or red and white, used to play the game of checkers.
"We lost two of the red checkers under the sofa and had to use coins as substitutes."
Plural form of checker: people or devices that inspect, verify, or tally items, or supermarket employees who scan groceries and process customer payments at a checkout counter.
"The grocery store hired several new checkers to reduce the wait times in the checkout lines."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to the board game, 'checkers' is plural in form but takes a singular verb (e.g., 'Checkers is an easy game to learn'); in British English, the game is called 'draughts'.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Middle English 'cheker' (a chessboard), from Old French 'eschequier', which originally referred to a chess table and ultimately traces back to the Persian word 'shah' (king).