pall-mall

¹ American  

[pel-mel, pal-mal, pawl-mawl] / ˈpɛlˈmɛl, ˈpælˈmæl, ˈpɔlˈmɔl /

noun

1. a game, popular in the 17th century, in which a ball of boxwood was struck with a mallet in an attempt to drive it through a raised iron ring at the end of a playing alley.

2. a playing alley on which this game was played.

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Pall Mall ² American  

[pal mal, pel mel] / ˈpæl ˈmæl, ˈpɛl ˈmɛl /

noun

1. a street in London, England, famed for its clubs.

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pall-mall ¹ British  

/ ˈpælˈmæl /

noun

1. a game in which a ball is driven by a mallet along an alley and through an iron ring

2. the alley itself

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Pall Mall ² British  

/ ˈpæl ˈmæl /

noun

1. a street in central London, noted for its many clubs

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Etymology

Origin of pall-mall

1560–70; < Middle French pallemaille < Italian pallamaglio, equivalent to palla ball (< Langobardic ) + maglio mallet (< Latin malleus ). See ball ¹, mall, mell ²

Example Sentences

But my answers were always, "Oh, nothing but Castlemain's new tantrum," or "The duke's defeat at pall-mall."

From The Touchstone of Fortune by Major, Charles

If he played pall-mall she often watched him, and sometimes played herself.

From Memoirs and Historical Chronicles of the Courts of Europe Marguerite de Valois, Madame de Pompadour, and Catherine de Medici by Various

To-day your father the duke, Don Alfonso, and Messer Galeaz Visconti are playing at pall-mall against Messer Galeaz Sanseverino, Signor Girolamo Tuttavilla, and myself.

From Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497 by Ady, Julia Mary Cartwright

As the game of pall-mall went out of fashion the Mall became a promenade, and was the resort of the Court.

From Westminster The Fascination of London by Smith, A. Murray, Mrs.