jacks

British  

/ dʒæks /

noun

1. Sometimes called: knucklebones.  (functioning as singular) a game in which bone, metal, or plastic pieces ( jackstones ) are thrown and then picked up in various groups between bounces or throws of a small ball

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Etymology

Origin of jacks

C19: shortened from jackstones , variant of checkstones pebbles

Explanation

Jacks is a children's game in which you bounce a small ball and quickly scoop up game pieces. There's evidence that some form of jacks was even played in ancient Greece. Jacks goes by many names, including "knucklebones" and "fivestones." The original version was played with small stones, which were closely related to dice, and invented around the same time. In modern jacks, a player drops ten metal star-shaped pieces and then tries to scoop them up — first one at a time, then two at a time, and so on — after bouncing a ball, which is then caught before it hits the ground.

Example Sentences

But now the jack’s dominance is being contested.

From The Guardian • Sep. 5, 2016

On a steeple jack's scaffolding set against the vertical face of Mt.

From Time Magazine Archive

Noiselessly as ever the canoe shot around, turning the jack's eye in that direction.

From Camp and Trail A Story of the Maine Woods by Hornibrook, Isabel

Both of my hosses has glanders, but this jack's all right.

From Injun and Whitey to the Rescue by Hart, William S.

All of a sudden, Balaam saw an angel with a drawn sword in his hand, who told him if it had not been for jack’s superior eye-sight, he would have been a dead man.

From A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion by Offen, Benjamin