marbles
Britishnoun
-
(functioning as singular) a game in which marbles are rolled at one another, similar to bowls
-
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 Franklin bust exists in several autograph versions, including the marbles at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art and two plaster versions in European collections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
But in daily life, ordinary objects such as rocks, dust, or marbles appear to follow the predictable laws of classical physics, staying in one place and moving along defined paths.
From Science Daily ● May 11, 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
His black eyes, as large and round as two marbles, glared down at the policemen and the firemen below.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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.
