skittle

/ˈskɪtl/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈskɪtl/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈski-tᵊl/ (ame, mw)

skittle — noun

  • skittlesingular
  • skittlesplural

1. an old British pub game where each player tries to knock over nine tall wooden t

1.名詞C1
釋義

an old British pub game where each player tries to knock over nine tall wooden targets by rolling a heavy ball across the floor toward them.

例句

Tunde and his brother played skittles at the village pub every Friday evening.

collocation: play skittles

The Yorkshire inn still keeps a long skittles alley behind the back garden.

collocation: skittles alley for the playing area

同義詞
  • ninepins

    older name for essentially the same game; nine targets, no tenth pin

  • bowls

    different game — rolled balls aim at a small target ball, not pins; do not swap

文法句型

play skittles

a game of skittles

用法筆記

Treated as singular even though it ends in -s: 'skittles is a popular pub game,' not 'are.' Distinguish from sense 2, which names the individual target struck by the ball.

常見錯誤

❌Skittles are my favourite pub game.
✅Skittles is my favourite pub game.
💡the game name behaves like a singular noun.
❌I want to play a skittle this weekend.
✅I want to play skittles this weekend.
💡the game name has no singular form.

2. a single tall, narrow wooden target, fatter in the middle and tapered at the top

2.名詞C1
釋義

a single tall, narrow wooden target, fatter in the middle and tapered at the top, that stands upright until someone rolls a ball into it and knocks it flat.

例句

Asher's first throw sent every skittle except the corner one crashing to the floor.

verb collocation: knock over a skittle

Layla carefully set up the nine skittles in a tidy diamond pattern.

collocation: set up the skittles

同義詞
  • pin

    American equivalent in ten-pin bowling; same general shape, slightly different proportions

  • ninepin

    older British term, especially when nine targets are involved

文法句型

knock over a skittle

set up the skittles

用法筆記

Refers to the individual target piece, not the activity. Often used in the plural ('the skittles') when describing the whole nine-piece set. Distinguish from sense 1, which names the game itself.

常見錯誤

❌She rolled the ball into the skittles game.
✅She rolled the ball into the skittles.
💡'the skittles' alone refers to the row of targets you are aiming at.
❌A bowling skittle.
✅A bowling pin.
💡American ten-pin uses 'pin'; the British game's target is the 'skittle'.