skittles
skittles Lexical Profile
skittles Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British A traditional indoor game, commonly played in British pubs and ancestral to modern bowling, in which players roll or throw wooden balls or cheeses down an alley to knock over nine wooden pins.
"We spent a lively Friday evening playing skittles at the local village pub."
The plural of skittle; the wooden pins arranged as targets in the game of skittles.
"The heavy wooden ball scattered all nine skittles across the floor of the alley."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to the game itself, 'skittles' is plural in form but treated as a singular uncountable noun in grammar (e.g., 'skittles is a popular pub game').
• Rhymes for skittles
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the 17th century, likely derived from Scandinavian sources akin to Old Norse 'skutill' (a shuttle, bolt, or implement shot forth), related to the verb 'shoot'.