mumbletypeg

[ muhm-buhl-tee-peg ]

noun

a children's game played with a pocketknife, the object being to cause the blade to stick in the ground or a wooden surface by flipping the knife in a number of prescribed ways or from a number of prescribed positions.

Origin of mumbletypeg

1620–30; from phrase mumble the peg (see mumble); so named because the losing player was formerly required to pull a peg from the ground with their teeth

Also mum·ble·de·peg, mum·ble·dy·peg [muhm-buhl-dee-peg], /ˈmʌm bəl diˌpɛg/, mumble peg, mum·ble-the-peg [muhm-buhl-thuh-peg], /ˈmʌm bəl ðəˌpɛg/, mum·ble·ty-peg, mum·bly-peg [muhm-blee-peg]. /ˈmʌm bliˌpɛg/.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mumbletypeg in a sentence

We'll tie the island to a tree and have a game of mumbly peg.
Pee-Wee Harris Adrift | Percy Keese Fitzhugh
A couple of boys played mumbly-peg under the bulletin board tree.
Tom Slade on Mystery Trail | Percy Keese Fitzhugh
He entered into the mumbly peg contest with a thoughtful mien and a corded brow.
The Lone Star Ranger | Zane Grey
Only right now it's off playing mumbly-peg with the Venerians.
This One Problem | M. C. Pease

British Dictionary definitions for mumbletypeg

mumbletypeg

/ (ˈmʌmbəltɪˌpɛɡ) /

noun

US a game in which players throw a knife in various prescribed ways, the aim being to make the blade stick in the ground

Origin of mumbletypeg

C17: from mumble the peg, a loser in the game being required to pull the knife out of the ground using the teeth

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

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