spillikins

/ (ˈspɪlɪkɪnz) /

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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

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Word Origin for spillikins

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

Words nearby spillikins

spiling, spill, spillage, Spillane, spillikin, spillikins, spillover, spillproof, spill the beans, spillway, spilt

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

How to use spillikins in a sentence

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
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 writer compares the structure to a bundle of spillikins.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India|Douglas Dewar

Leap frog is not too heavy for me and spillikins not too light.
Mr. Scarborough's Family|Anthony Trollope