shove-halfpenny

British

noun

a game in which players try to propel old halfpennies or polished discs with the hand into lined sections of a wooden or slate board

"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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shove-halfpenny

The favourite game of shove-halfpenny was kept up till a late hour, when the party broke up highly delighted.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, November 27, 1841 by Various

You now have a prepared patch that can be used for hop-scotch, shove-halfpenny, Rugby football or curling.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 146, January 21, 1914 by Various

But the hour will soon be over, and then you can go and have a nice game of shove-halfpenny, or whatever your favourite sport is, in the gutter.

From The Lighter Side of School Life by Hay, Ian

The game of shove-halfpenny is mentioned in the Times of April 25, 1845, as then played by the lower orders.

From Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thiselton-Dyer, Thomas Firminger

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