snooker
snooker Lexical Profile
snooker Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A cue sport played on a large baize-covered table with pockets, in which two players use a white cue ball to pocket fifteen red balls and six other colored balls in a predetermined sequence.
"They spent the rainy afternoon playing a quiet frame of snooker at the local club."
A position in a game of snooker or billiards in which the player cannot strike the required object ball directly because another ball obstructs the path of the cue ball.
"With a delicate safety shot behind the black ball, she laid a difficult snooker for her opponent."
• verb
To leave an opponent in a position where they cannot strike the required object ball directly because another ball blocks the path (in snooker or pool).
"He snookered his rival behind the brown ball, forcing a costly foul on the next turn."
British To place someone in an impossible or disadvantageous position; to thwart or stymie.
"The sudden change in zoning regulations completely snookered the developer's expansion plans."
North American To trick, dupe, or swindle someone.
"The unscrupulous salesperson snookered the tourists into buying counterfeit tickets."
• Rhymes for snooker
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1875 by Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain among British Army officers in India, the name originated as military slang for a first-year cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, applied humorously to inexperienced players at the billiard table.