croquet
Americannoun
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a game played by knocking wooden balls through metal wickets with mallets.
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(in croquet) the act of driving away an opponent's ball by striking one's own when the two are in contact.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a game for two to four players who hit a wooden ball through iron hoops with mallets in order to hit a peg
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the act of croqueting
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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croquetsimple
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croquetssimple
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have croquetedperfect
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has croquetedperfect
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am croquetingprogressive
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are croquetingprogressive
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is croquetingprogressive
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have been croquetingperfect progressive
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has been croquetingperfect progressive
Past
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croquetedsimple
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had croquetedperfect
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was croquetingprogressive
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were croquetingprogressive
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had been croquetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of croquet
1855–60; < French (dial.): hockey stick, literally, little hook; see crocket
Explanation
Croquet (rhymes with “okay”) is a lawn game played by whacking a wooden ball with a mallet. It was all the rage in Europe in the 1800s, but people still play it worldwide, often at summer parties. When you play croquet, you have a colored wooden ball and a matching mallet. Players take turns trying to hit their balls under a series of hoops or to knock someone else’s out of the way. When Alice is in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts uses a flamingo as a mallet and a hedgehog for a ball, but that is not recommended. In Northern French dialect, croquet means "hockey stick," originally "shepherd's crook" in Old North French.
Vocabulary lists containing croquet
2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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English Words Derived from French, List 6
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Baseball in April
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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.
The tournament, held at London’s All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, “still has this old-fashioned formalness that makes it feel special,” said Amanda Greeley, founder of the tennis apparel brand Spence.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
The school, which costs £5,565 per term, is just a mile away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as it hosts the world-famous tennis tournament.
From BBC • Jul. 7, 2023
The crash occurred about a mile away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is hosting the world-famous Wimbledon tennis tournament.
From Washington Times • Jul. 6, 2023
The incident occurred about a mile away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as it hosts the world-famous tennis tournament.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 6, 2023
The Victory Croquet Club is taking my Roller, �7 carriage forward.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, March 3rd, 1920 by Various
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.
