Definition

1. Noun:

   • A lightweight projectile used in badminton: A shuttlecock is a small, lightweight object consisting of a rounded cork or rubber base with a conical crown of feathers or synthetic material, designed to be hit back and forth over a net in the game of badminton.
   • The object used in the sport: It refers specifically to the equipment that replaces a ball in the game of badminton.

2. Verb:

   • To send or toss back and forth rapidly: To shuttlecock something means to move or send it to and fro between people or places, often in a rapid or indecisive manner, similar to the flight of a badminton shuttlecock.

Examples

• Noun:

  • The player smashed the shuttlecock over the net for a winning point.
  • A new shuttlecock is needed; the feathers on this one are broken.

• Verb:

  • The diplomats shuttlecocked the proposal between their respective capitals for weeks.
  • The children shuttlecocked the beach ball back and forth across the yard.

Advanced Usage

• "To be shuttlecocked": To be sent back and forth between parties, often without resolution.
  • The patient felt shuttlecocked between different specialists without getting a clear diagnosis.

Variants and Related Words

• Shuttle (verb/noun): To travel frequently between two points; a vehicle that does so. While related in the sense of back-and-forth motion, "shuttle" is a distinct word.
• Birdie (noun, informal): A common informal synonym for a shuttlecock in badminton.
  • He served the birdie high and deep.

Synonyms

• Noun: Birdie (informal, in badminton context).
• Verb: Bandy, toss, batt, volley.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

(Note: "Shuttlecock" itself is not commonly used to form standard phrasal verbs. The verb form is typically used transitively.)

Related Idioms

• "Like a shuttlecock": Used to describe something or someone being moved or passed back and forth uncontrollably.
  • During the merger talks, employees felt like shuttlecocks, uncertain of their future.

Noun

1. badminton equipment consisting of a ball of cork or rubber with a crown of feathers

Verb

1. send or toss to and fro, like a shuttlecock