jackstraw
Definition
- Noun:
- A small, thin object used in a game: A "jackstraw" is a slender piece of wood, plastic, or similar material, used as one of the pieces in the game of jackstraws (also known as pick-up sticks or spillikins).
- The game piece itself: The term refers specifically to the individual sticks that players must pick up without disturbing the others.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- He carefully removed a single jackstraw from the tangled pile.
- The set contained fifty brightly colored jackstraws.
Advanced Usage
- Historical/Literary Usage: The term can be used metaphorically to describe something thin, insignificant, or easily toppled.
- The old fence stood like a line of jackstraws after the storm. (This compares the fallen fence to the scattered sticks in the game.)
Variants and Related Words
- Jackstraws (n): The name of the game itself, which involves picking up these sticks from a scattered pile.
- Pick-up stick (n): A common synonym for a jackstraw.
- Spillikin (n): Another, less common, synonym for a jackstraw.
Synonyms
- Pick-up stick
- Spillikin
Notes on Meaning
The word "jackstraw" almost exclusively refers to the game piece. It is rarely used in other contexts outside of describing the game or making a direct visual comparison to the sticks used in it.
Noun
-
a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws
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