conker

/ˈkɒŋkə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈkɑːŋkər/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈkäŋ-kər/ (ame, mw)

conker — noun

  • conkersingular
  • conkersplural

1. the hard, glossy brown seed produced by the horse chestnut, which falls in autum

1.名詞C1
釋義

the hard, glossy brown seed produced by the horse chestnut, which falls in autumn enclosed in a spiky green case and is poisonous if eaten.

例句

Ilan filled his pockets with conkers on the walk home from school.

concrete object: kids collecting conkers in autumn

Ritu picked up a smooth, shiny conker from beneath the old chestnut tree.

typical adjectives: smooth, shiny conker

同義詞
  • horse chestnut

    the full name of the seed; conker is the everyday British term.

用法筆記

Subject is usually a person handling or finding the seed; commonly seen in autumn-themed children's contexts in the UK.

常見錯誤

❌I roasted some conkers for dinner.
✅I roasted some chestnuts for dinner.
💡conkers are inedible and poisonous; only sweet chestnuts can be eaten.

2. a traditional British playground contest where two players thread a conker onto

2.名詞C1
釋義

a traditional British playground contest where two players thread a conker onto a piece of string and take turns swinging theirs to smash the other player's, with the last one still whole winning the round.

例句

Christopher beat his older brother at conkers in the school playground.

collocation: beat someone at conkers

The local school held a conkers tournament every October during break time.

compound noun pattern: conkers tournament

文法句型

play conkers

用法筆記

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense always refers to the game itself, almost always used in the plural form 'conkers' and often with the verb 'play'.

常見錯誤

❌We played a conker in the playground.
✅We played conkers in the playground.
💡the game name is always plural, like 'play darts' or 'play marbles'.