backgammon
Americannoun
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a game for two persons played on a board having two tables or parts, each marked with 12 points, and with both players having 15 pieces that are moved in accordance with throws of the dice.
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a victory at this game, especially one resulting in a tripled score.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a game for two people played on a board with pieces moved according to throws of the dice
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the most complete form of win in this game
Etymology
Origin of backgammon
Explanation
Backgammon is a two-player game in which you move pieces in an attempt to be the first to remove them all from the board. Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world. There's an element of luck to the game of backgammon, but strategy is important if you want to play well. Each player takes turns rolling the dice and choosing the best of many options for moving one or two pieces. You can also capture your opponent's pieces to slow him down. The gammon in backgammon comes from the Old English gamen, "fun" or "game," though the game itself comes from ancient Persia.
Vocabulary lists containing backgammon
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.
Colonists played chess, checkers, dominoes and backgammon, among other diversions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026
Away from football, the pair enjoy playing backgammon and often hang out together at each other's houses.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026
Candlelight illuminated rows of backgammon boards atop long tables; Kylie Minogue and Destiny’s Child played in the background.
From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2024
We are born gamers, after all — they were playing backgammon in ancient Mesopotamia and pachisi in ancient India, and who knows what prehistoric amusements before that.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 31, 2023
The clicking of backgammon dice filled his ears as he pressed the accelerator.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
