muggins

American  

[muhg-inz] / ˈmʌg ɪnz /

noun

1. a convention in the card game of cribbage in which a player scores points overlooked by an opponent.

2. a game of dominoes, in which any player who can make the sum of two ends of the line equal five or a multiple of five adds the number so made to their score.

3. British Slang. a fool.

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muggins British  

/ ˈmʌɡɪnz /

noun

1. slang

   1. a simpleton; silly person

   2. a title used humorously to refer to oneself

2. a variation on the game of dominoes

3. a card game

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Etymology

Origin of muggins

First recorded in 1850–55; probably special use of proper name; muggins def. 3 by association with mug ( def. 4 )

Example Sentences

We’ll have separate MBMs for the two televised games, Rochdale v Newcastle and Wolves v Man Utd while muggins here will attempt to keep up with all the other games.

From The Guardian • Jan. 4, 2020

“And she’s no one left, so here I am, muggins here, taking her to a laying out when I’ve a million other stones to be lifted off the pile.”

From The New Yorker • Aug. 5, 2013

“Ay, maybe that’s it: I ken it minded me o’ mud and muggins.

From Out in the Forty-Five Duncan Keith's Vow by Holt, Emily Sarah

A minister's wife can't dance anything but the Virginia reel, nor play anything more than muggins.

From The Brentons by Dexter, Wilson C.

Later I heard him apply it to a Yosemite waterfall, and by then should not have been surprised to hear him speak of a mighty glacier, or a giant sequoia, as a "muggins."

From Our Friend John Burroughs by Barrus, Clara