conker
Americannoun
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conkers
plural
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a horse chestnut.
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the hollowed-out shell of a horse chestnut.
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conkers, a game in which a child swings a horse chestnut on a string in an attempt to break that of another player.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of conker
1840–50; probably originally conquer; compare conquering a game played with snail shells (the name of the game presumably later transferred to the playing pieces)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The single combat involves swinging a conker -- a hardened horse chestnut -- on a string at your opponent's nut with murderous venom, until one is smashed to pieces.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
And they were needed, with one man disqualified for trying to smuggle a non-conforming conker in.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
His victory was plunged into controversy and he was surprised to find himself at the centre of national headlines when the Telegraph reported claims he cheated by swapping his real conker for a metal one.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2024
What does it take to conquer all challengers and what makes for the perfect conker?
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2023
A conker tree’d erupted out of the earth and'd flexed out millions of strong arms and strong legs.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
There had been fears the event would be cancelled for only the third time in its history due to the hot, dry summer, which caused conkers to fall from trees early.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
There were fears before the event that there could be a shortage of conkers due to high winds blowing horse chestnut seeds from trees earlier in the autumn.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
More than 2,000 conkers had been prepared prior to the event.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
She now helps out by picking good nuts and threading about 2,000 conkers for battle.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2024
But at least the conkers was something to watch.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
