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Glite Dictionary
shove-halfpenny

shove-halfpenny

9.9
A game where players slide coins by hand across a board to a target
  • noun
  • /ʃʌv ˈhæfˌpɛni/
  • Archaic
translation icon : shove-halfpenny
  • The traditional game of shove-halfpenny involves sliding coins across a wooden board to score points.

Examples

  • We played shove-halfpenny at the pub last night.

  • He demonstrated remarkable skill at shove-halfpenny, winning nearly every round.

  • A battered shove-halfpenny board was found among the old bar games.

  • The children gathered in the pub's back room to play shove-halfpenny on a rainy afternoon.

  • Have you ever tried shove-halfpenny?

  • On Saturday, we enjoyed a game of shove-halfpenny at the local pub, laughing and competing with friends.

  • During the family gathering, the kids loved playing shove-halfpenny while the adults enjoyed their drinks.

Synonyms

shove-ha'penny
vsshove-halfpenny
  • Archaic
9.9

A pub game where you slide coins on a board to score points

is the same game but written with a hyphen rather than an apostrophe
shovel board
vsshove-halfpenny
  • Archaic
8.9

A game where players slide coins or discs across a long smooth board to reach a target for points

is about sliding toward a mark without focusing on long boards or precise aiming

Surface Forms

shove-halfpenny singular
shove-halfpennies plural

Morphology

shove-halfpenny = shove + halfpenny (transparent) = shove + half + penny

The name literally describes the activity (shoving halfpennies), so a learner who knows 'shove' and 'half'+'penny' can derive the meaning.

Etymology

The word shove-halfpenny comes from the English words shove ('push') and halfpenny ('small coin'). So the name literally means 'push the small coin', because players slide coins along a board toward a mark, which is exactly what the game is.