bar billiards

8.2

A table game like pool where short cues hit balls into holes while knocking wooden pegs loses points

noun

: billar de bar

Unlike pool, bar billiards uses wooden pegs and no side pockets.

Examples

The pub installed a bar billiards table to attract more patrons.
I love playing bar billiards with my friends.
He spent the afternoon teaching his friends how to play bar billiards.
Have you ever tried bar billiards?
He spent the afternoon teaching his friends how to play bar billiards.
The pub installed a bar billiards table to attract more patrons.
Unlike pool, bar billiards uses wooden pegs instead of side pockets.

Synonyms

bagatelle

vsbar billiards

Archaic

9.9

A table game where players use short sticks to hit balls into holes guarded by wooden pegs

is the specific tabletop sport with defined rules and peg penalties

How Complex

snooker

5 7.4

billiards

15 4.4

pool

163 2.6

bar billiards

8.2

Surface Forms

bar billiards singular

bar billiards plural

Morphology

bar + billiards

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'bar' (a place where drinks are served) combined with 'billiards' (cue games): it denotes a form or setting of billiards associated with a bar. This is compositional rather than idiomatic, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Bar billiards began in pubs, and its name comes from bar, meaning a 'pub', and billiards, the table game. To fit into small rooms, players used a compact table with holes protected by wooden pegs, and knocking a peg gave a penalty, so the name now means the pub tabletop cue game with pegs and penalties.