spillikin

or spil·i·kin

[spil-i-kin]

noun

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

Origin of spillikin

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for spillikins

Historical Examples of spillikins

Leap frog is not too heavy for me and spillikins not too light.
Mr. Scarborough's Family
Anthony Trollope
One writer compares the structure to a bundle of spillikins.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India
Douglas Dewar
Weymouth, a hundred and eighty years ago, was about as symmetrical as a game of spillikins in confusion.
The Man Who Laughs
Victor Hugo
One evening, Belinda was playing with little Charles Percival at spillikins.
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
So there was the situation till the war of Ninety-three came along to jumble us all up and knock everything to spillikins.
Wild Justice: Stories of the South Seas
Lloyd Osbourne

British Dictionary definitions for spillikins

spillikins

noun

(functioning as singular) British a game in which players try to pick each spillikin from a heap without moving any of the othersAlso called: jackstraws

Word Origin for spillikins

C18: from spill ² + diminutive ending. See -kin

spillikin

spilikin spellican (ˈspɛlɪkən)

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