conkers

British

/ ˈkɒŋkəz /

noun

(functioning as singular) a game in which a player swings a horse chestnut (conker), threaded onto a string, against that of another player to try to break it

"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

Etymology

Origin of conkers

C19: from dialect conker snail shell, originally used in the game

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.

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

"Billy Connolly has worked his conkers off to make it look like he's just thought something up," he says.

From BBC • May 20, 2025

The event saw participants go head-to-head using conkers threaded on to string to try and smash their opponent's nut.

From BBC • Oct. 13, 2024

More than 2,000 conkers had been prepared prior to the event.

From BBC • Oct. 13, 2024

This, we decided, would be our secret hiding place for sweets and other small treasures such as conkers and monkey-nuts and birds’ eggs.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023