Jackstraw

Jackstraw
Jackstraw Jack"straw`, n. 1. An effigy stuffed with straw; a scarecrow; hence, a man without property or influence. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. One of a set of straws of strips of ivory, bone, wood, etc., for playing a child's game, the jackstraws being thrown confusedly together on a table, to be gathered up singly by a hooked instrument, without touching or disturbing the rest of the pile. See {Spilikin}. A modern variation, called {pick-up-sticks} (U.S. 1940+), is played with thin wooden sticks of different colors, each color having different values for scoring; the sticks are dislodged from the pile with the hand or with one of the sticks. [1913 Webster +PJC]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • jackstraw — [jak′strô΄] n. 1. [ JACK + STRAW] Obs. STRAW MAN (sense 2) 2. [ JACK + STRAW] a narrow strip of wood, plastic, etc. used in a game (jackstraws) played by tossing a number of such strips into a jumbled heap and trying to remove them one at a time… …   English World dictionary

  • jackstraw — noun Date: 1801 1. plural but singular in construction a game in which a set of straws or thin strips is let fall in a heap with each player in turn trying to remove one at a time without disturbing the rest 2. one of the pieces used in the game… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • jackstraw — /jak straw /, n. 1. one of a group of strips of wood or similar objects, as straws or toothpicks, used in the game of jackstraws. 2. jackstraws, (used with a sing. v.) a game in which players compete in picking up, one by one, as many jackstraws… …   Universalium

  • jackstraw — noun One of the pieces used for the game variously called jackstraws or pick up sticks. Syn: spillikin …   Wiktionary

  • jackstraw — n. piece of straw or strip of wood used in the game of jackstraws; scarecrow (Archaic); worthless person (Archaic) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • jackstraw — noun another term for spillikin …   English new terms dictionary

  • jackstraw — n 1. scarecrow, strawman, man of straw, effigy. 2. nonentity, nobody, nothing, cipher, insignificancy, little fellow, Inf. little guy, man on the street, John Doe, Inf. small fry, Sl. small fish, Sl. nebbish, Sl.Joe Blow or Joe Doakes …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

  • jackstraw — jack•straw [[t]ˈdʒækˌstrɔ[/t]] n. 1) gam one of the thin strips of wood or other material used in jackstraws 2) gam jackstraws, (used with a sing. v.) a game in which piled jackstraws must be picked up, one by one, without disturbing the heap •… …   From formal English to slang

  • jackstraw — /ˈdʒækstrɔ/ (say jakstraw) noun 1. a straw stuffed figure of a person. 2. an insignificant person. 3. one of a number of straws, or strips of wood, bone, etc., used in a game in which they are thrown on a table in confusion and are to be picked… …  

  • jackstraw — noun a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws • Syn: ↑spillikin • Hypernyms: ↑strip …   Useful english dictionary

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