spillikin

9.9

A thin stick of wood used to play pick-up sticks

noun
/ˈspɪlɪkɪn/

Archaic

: spillikin

She carefully picked up a spillikin without disturbing the others.

Examples

The children scattered the spillikins across the table to begin their game.
They carefully arranged the spillikins for the game.
A set of antique spillikins was found in the attic.
She picked up a spillikin from the table.
The children scattered the spillikins across the table to begin their game.
She carefully picked up a spillikin without disturbing the others.
A set of antique spillikins was found in the attic.

Synonyms

jackstraw

vsspillikin

1 9.9

Thin piece of wood or plastic in a game where players remove pieces without moving others

is traditionally made from wood or straw rather than plastic

Surface Forms

spillikin singular

spillikins plural

Morphology

spillikin = spill (opaque) = spill + kin

Although built from 'spill' + diminutive '-kin', the relevant sense of 'spill' (a splinter) is archaic and different from the common verb 'spill', so learners will not reliably derive the meaning.

Etymology

Spillikin comes from an old word for a thin piece of wood, much like a splinter, so imagine a tiny wooden stick. That's why a spillikin is a small game piece or 'thin strip of wood' used in the game of jackstraws.