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Glite Dictionary
beggar-my-neighbor

beggar-my-neighbor

1 9.7
A two-player card game where each player tries to win all the other player's cards
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛɡər maɪ ˈneɪbər/
: pobre de mi vecino
  • He taught me the rules of beggar-my-neighbor so we could enjoy a fun two-player card game.

Examples

  • We played a beggar-my-neighbor game all afternoon and I won all of his cards.

  • During the rainy day, we decided to pass the time by playing beggar-my-neighbor in the living room.

  • This task was presented as a beggar-my-neighbor game.

    Academic text (2012)

Synonyms

strip-Jack-naked
vsbeggar-my-neighbor
  • UK
9.9

A simple card game for two players where one player tries to win all the other player's cards

omits calling the game simple

Surface Forms

beggar-my-neighbor singular
beggar-my-neighbors plural

Morphology

beggar-my-neighbor = beggar + my + neighbor (semi-transparent) = beggar + my + neighbor

The phrase is clearly composed of 'beggar', 'my', and 'neighbor', but its use as the proper name of a card game is idiomatic and not directly deducible from the components.

Etymology

Beggar-my-neighbor is the name of a simple card game and comes from the plain words beggar ('to make poor') and neighbor ('the player next to you'). In the game you try to win all the other player's cards, so you 'make your neighbor poor' by taking their cards, which explains the name.