drop the handkerchief

American  

noun

1. a children's game in which all the players but one stand in a circle facing inward, while that one player stealthily drops a handkerchief behind a player in the circle who must pursue and attempt to catch the one who dropped the handkerchief before the latter reaches the vacated place.

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Example Sentences

I drop the handkerchief, and Virginia erupts with giggles.

From Literature

The participants were instructed to drop the handkerchief when the hug was over.

From New York Times

They played "Drop the Handkerchief," too, and when they got through Mr. Rabbit performed some tricks with the handkerchief and the button that made even Mr. 'Possum pay attention because they were so wonderful.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps the most wildly exciting hours of her life were when, after much coaxing, she joined in the games of Drop the Handkerchief, Blind Man's Buff and Going to Jerusalem, the last game sending her crimson and panting into a chair in the corner, with the children crowding about her shrieking with laughter.

From Project Gutenberg

Some wanted to choose new sides, and others wanted to remain as they had been the day before; and yet others, as they said, "didn't want to play anyhow," and in the midst of so many voices, they all went to playing "Drop the handkerchief," girls and boys together.

From Project Gutenberg