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spillikin

American

[spil-i-kin] / ˈspɪl ɪ kɪn /

Or spilikin

noun

a jackstraw.
(used with a singular verb) spillikins, the game of jackstraws.

spillikin British

/ ˈspɛlɪkən, ˈspɪlɪkɪn /

noun

a thin strip of wood, cardboard, or plastic, esp one used in spillikins

"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 spillikin

1725–35; variant of spellican < obsolete Dutch spelleken, equivalent to spelle peg, pin + -ken -kin

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.

It's so very difficult to play a game with a spillikin on one side and a sledge-hammer on the other.'

From The Explorer by Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset)

These words are evidently of the same class, though not of the same species with bishopric, colewort, spillikin, gossip, mainswearer, &c.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

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