battledore

[ bat-l-dawr, -dohr ]

/ ˈbæt lˌdɔr, -ˌdoʊr /

noun

Also called battledore and shuttlecock. a game from which badminton was developed, played since ancient times in India and other Asian countries.

a light racket for striking the shuttlecock in this game.

a 17th- and 18th-century hornbook of wood or cardboard, used as a child's primer.

verb (used with or without object), bat·tle·dored, bat·tle·dor·ing.

to toss or fly back and forth: to battledore the plan among one's colleagues.

Nearby words

battle-ax culture, battle-axe, battle-axe block, battle-scarred, battlebus, battledore, battledore placenta, battledress, battlefield, battlefront, battlement

Origin of battledore

1400–50; late Middle English batyldo(u)re washing beetle, equivalent to batyl to beat (clothes) in washing (frequentative of bat¹) + -dore dung beetle (beetle¹ for beetle² by way of pun, with allusion to filth on clothes). See dor¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for battledore

They do not constitute two parts of the same speech but ordinarily play back and forth, like a game of battledore.
Toasts|William Pittenger
No sound of merriment was now to be heard—no battledore and shuttlecock—no ball, no marbles.
The Parent's Assistant|Maria Edgeworth
She had no battledore light enough to return an airy shuttlecock.
Once Aboard The Lugger|Arthur Stuart-Menteth Hutchinson
Seeabout the nursery floor All her little heritage: Rubber ball and battledore, Tattered book and coloured page.
Enamels and Cameos and other Poems|Thophile Gautier

The voice of the battledore is silent in the entrance-hall, and the shuttlecock sleeps.
Alas!|Rhoda Broughton

British Dictionary definitions for battledore

battledore

/ (ˈbætəlˌdɔː) /

noun

Also called: battledore and shuttlecock an ancient racket game

a light racket, smaller than a tennis racket, used for striking the shuttlecock in this game

(formerly) a wooden utensil used for beating clothes, in baking, etc

Word Origin for battledore

C15 batyldoure, perhaps from Old Provençal batedor a beater, from Old French battre to beat, batter 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012