croquet

/ˈkroʊˌkeɪ/

/krəʊˈkeɪ/

Other forms: croquets; croqueting; croqueted

Croquet (rhymes with “okay”) is a lawn game played by whacking a wooden ball with a mallet. It was all the rage in Europe in the 1800s, but people still play it worldwide, often at summer parties.

When you play croquet, you have a colored wooden ball and a matching mallet. Players take turns trying to hit their balls under a series of hoops or to knock someone else’s out of the way. When Alice is in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts uses a flamingo as a mallet and a hedgehog for a ball, but that is not recommended. In Northern French dialect, croquet means "hockey stick," originally "shepherd's crook" in Old North French.

Definitions of croquet

1. noun

   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
   type of:

   outdoor game

   an athletic game that is played outdoors
2. verb

   play a game in which players hit a wooden ball through a series of hoops
   type of:

   play

   participate in games or sport
3. verb

   drive away by hitting with one's ball, "croquet the opponent's ball"
   type of:

   hit

   cause to move by striking