skittle

IPA/ˈskɪtl/
KK[skˈɪtəl]IPA/ˈskɪtl/

skittle — noun

  • skittlesingular
  • skittlesplural

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

1.nounC1
Definition

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.

Example

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

Common collocations
  • play skittles
  • a game of skittles
  • skittles alley
  • skittles league
  • skittles night
Synonyms
  • 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

Grammar Patterns

play skittles

a game of skittles

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

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.nounC1
Definition

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.

Example

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

Common collocations
  • knock over a skittle
  • set up the skittles
  • wooden skittle
  • the corner skittle
  • the middle skittle
Synonyms
  • pin

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

  • ninepin

    older British term, especially when nine targets are involved

Grammar Patterns

knock over a skittle

set up the skittles

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

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'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four are rolling-ball games, but they sit in different traditions and settings. 'Skittles' is the British pub game, played in small halls or back rooms with a heavy lopsided ball and nine wooden targets arranged in a diamond. 'Ninepins' is an older name still used in some regions for essentially the same nine-target game; today it sounds historical or rural. 'Tenpin bowling' is the modern American sport with ten pins, a perforated ball, polished lanes, and big public alleys — a different scale and tone from skittles. 'Bowls' is unrelated: players roll heavy balls across a grass green, aiming to stop near a small white target ball, with no pins involved. So 'fancy a game of skittles?' suggests a British pub night, while 'a game of bowls' suggests an outdoor club green on a summer afternoon.

skittles ↗ninepinstenpin bowlingbowls ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • skittles alley
  • skittles league
  • skittles night
  • skittles ball
  • wooden skittle

Phrases

  • play skittles
  • a game of skittles
  • knock over a skittle
  • set up the skittles

Prepositions

  • at skittles (be good at skittles)
  • into the skittles (roll the ball)

Etymology

Old NorseMiddle EnglishEnglish

First recorded in English in the 17th century, the word 'skittle' likely came from a Scandinavian source related to old Norse 'skutill' meaning a shuttle or projectile. The game itself spread across northern Europe long before the modern American bowling lane existed, and the British pub version is what English speakers usually picture when they hear the word today.