jackstraw

Thân thiện

A child carefully lifts a jackstraw from a pile without disturbing the others.

Definition

1. 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.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws

Từ đồng nghĩa

• spillikin