massé

American

[ma-sey, mas-ee] / mæˈseɪ, ˈmæs i /

noun

Billiards.

a stroke made by hitting the cue ball with the cue held almost or quite perpendicular to the table.

massé British

/ ˈmæsɪ /

noun

billiards a stroke made by hitting the cue ball off centre with the cue held nearly vertically, esp so as to make the ball move in a curve around another ball before hitting the object ball

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of massé

1870–75; < French: literally, hammered, i.e., struck from above, straight down, equivalent to masse sledge hammer ( Old French mace; see mace ¹) + -é -ee

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.

How could a man like that do such a massé?

From A Woman's Will by Caliga, I. H. (Isaac Henry)

"Colonel Stirling's," said Vaughan, making a brilliant massé.

From The Honorable Peter Stirling and What People Thought of Him by Ford, Paul Leicester

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023