checker

[ chek-er ]

/ ˈtʃɛk ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR checker ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, usually red or black disk of plastic or wood, used in playing checkers.

checkers,

Also called, British, draughts.(used with a singular verb) a game played by two persons, each with 12 playing pieces, on a checkerboard.
(in a regenerative furnace) loosely stacked brickwork through which furnace gases and incoming air are passed in turn, so that the heat of the exhaust is absorbed and later transferred to the incoming air.

a checkered pattern.

one of the squares of a checkered pattern.

verb (used with object)

to mark like a checkerboard.

to diversify in color; variegate.

to diversify in character; subject to alternations: Sorrow and joy have checkered his life.

Nearby words

checkbook, checkbook journalism, checked, checked swing, checkedy, checker, checkerberry, checkerbloom, checkerboard, checkered, checkered career

Also British, che·quer.

Origin of checker

1250–1300; Middle English checker chessboard < Anglo-French escheker (by aphesis), equivalent to eschec check¹ + -er -er²

Definition for checker (2 of 2)

checker

[ chek-er ]

/ ˈtʃɛk ər /

noun

a person or thing that checks.

a cashier, as in a supermarket or cafeteria.

a person who checks coats, baggage, etc.

Origin of checker

First recorded in 1525–35; check¹ + -er¹

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

Examples from the Web for checker

Would a checker—would an order filler go to the different floors and take books out of cartons?
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
The southeast trade still held, but the ocean was a checker board of squalls.
South Sea Tales|Jack London
He had to recall that his invalidism, not his checker prowess, was in question.
The Wrong Twin|Harry Leon Wilson
Take one ounce of oil of tar, one drachm of oil of checker berry; mix.
Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889|Barkham Burroughs

I'm thinkin' of gettin' a dude outfit—long-tailed coat and checker pants and a elevated lid with a shine to it.
Overland Red|Henry Herbert Knibbs

British Dictionary definitions for checker (1 of 2)

checker

/ (ˈtʃɛkə) /

noun, verb

the usual US spelling of chequer

noun

textiles a variant spelling of chequer (def. 2)

US and Canadian any one of the 12 flat thick discs used by each player in the game of checkersAlso called (in Britain and certain other countries): draughtsman

British Dictionary definitions for checker (2 of 2)

checker

/ (ˈtʃɛkə) /

noun mainly US and Canadian

a cashier, esp in a supermarket

an attendant in a cloakroom, left-luggage office, etc

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