marbles
Britishnoun
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(functioning as singular) a game in which marbles are rolled at one another, similar to bowls
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informal (functioning as plural) wits
to lose one's marbles
Explanation
Marbles is the name of a game that you play with the round glass balls also called marbles. A World Marbles Championship has been held each year in Britain since 1932. Don't miss it this year. Marbles is a game that involves rolling marbles on a sidewalk, inside a marked circle. Players shoot or flick their marbles with their thumbs, aiming "shooters," larger marbles, at the smaller ones, and trying to keep their own marbles inside the circle while hitting other players' marbles out of it. Doing this gives the player a point, and they also get to keep the marble. To "lose your marbles" comes from American slang and means "go crazy."
Vocabulary lists containing marbles
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.
Houdon’s marbles of Jefferson and Washington have had monumental afterlives, impacting depictions of presidents from the Lincoln Memorial to Mount Rushmore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
If two marbles are painted different colors, for example, you can track which one moved where.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026
But Lee marbles other theories and indictments into his meat concerning the privilege of extreme emotion and behavioral honesty.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results, England have collectively lost their marbles and their wickets.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2025
“Para el lunes,” I said through what felt like a mouthful of marbles.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
