croquet definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a game in which players hit a wooden ball through a series of hoops; the winner is the first to traverse all the hoops and hit a peg v
1: drive away by hitting with one's ball, "croquet the opponent's ball"
2: play a game in which players hit a wooden ball through a series of hoops

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: probably ultimately from obsolete French, sharp blow, from croquer Date: 1855 1. a game in which players using mallets drive wooden balls through a series of wickets set out on a lawn 2. the act of driving away an opponent's croquet ball by striking one's own ball placed against it • croquet transitive verb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a game played on a lawn, with wooden balls which are driven through a series of hoops with mallets. 2 the act of croqueting a ball. --v.tr. (croqueted; croqueting) drive away (one's opponent's ball in croquet) by placing one's own against it and striking one's own. Etymology: perh. dial. form of F CROCHET hook

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Croquet Cro*quet" (kr?-k?"), n. [From French; cf. Walloon croque blow, fillip. F. croquet a crisp biscuit, croquer to crunch, fr. croc a crackling sound, of imitative origin. Croquet then properly meant a smart tap on the ball.] 1. An open-air game in which two or more players endeavor to drive wooden balls, by means of mallets, through a series of hoops or arches set in the ground according to some pattern. 2. The act of croqueting.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Croquet Cro*quet", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Croqueted (-k?d); p. pr. & vb. n. Croqueting (-k?"?ng).] In the game of croquet, to drive away an opponent's ball, after putting one's own in contact with it, by striking one's own ball with the mallet.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Croquet is a game played on grass in which the players use long wooden sticks called mallets to hit balls through metal arches.