Crossword clues for battledore
The Collaborative International Dictionary
battledore \bat"tle*dore\ n. same as battledoor.
Syn: battledore and shuttlecock.
battledoor \bat"tle*door`\, n. [OE. batyldour. A corrupted form of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. batallador a great combatant, he who has fought many battles, Pg. batalhador, Pr. batalhador, warrior, soldier, fr. L. battalia; or cf. Pr. batedor batlet, fr. batre to beat, fr. L. batuere. See Battle, n.]
An instrument, with a handle and a flat part covered with parchment or crossed with catgut, used to strike a shuttlecock in play; also, the play of battledoor and shuttlecock. [Also spelled battledore.]
[OE. battleder.] A child's hornbook. [Obs.]
--Halliwell.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
mid-15c., "bat-like implement used in washing clothes," of unknown origin, perhaps from Old Provençal batedor, Spanish batidor "beater, bat," from batir "to beat;" perhaps blended with Middle English betel "hammer, mallet." As a trype of racket used in a game, from 1590s.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 A game played with a shuttlecock and rackets (properly battledore and shuttlecock); a forerunner of badminton. 2 The racket used in this game. 3 (context obsolete English) A child's hornbook for learning the alphabet. 4 (context obsolete English) A bat or beetle used in washing clothes. n. 1 A game played with a shuttlecock and rackets (properly battledore and shuttlecock); a forerunner of badminton. 2 The racket used in this game. 3 (context obsolete English) A child's hornbook for learning the alphabet. 4 (context obsolete English) A bat or beetle used in washing clothes.
WordNet
n. a light long-handled racket used by badminton players [syn: badminton racket, badminton racquet]
an ancient racket game [syn: battledore and shuttlecock]
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "battledore".
There was lawn bowling, battledore and shuttlecock, archery, and even target shooting.
She swiped at it with great force, but her battledore caught nothing but feathers, and the bird sailed into the net.
I do not know which begins this battledore and shuttlecock arrangement.
It was the first time she had been present at a game of battledore and shuttlecock with what she regarded as fundamental morals.
I stayed out a few minutes longer with Adele and Pilot -- ran a race with her, and played a game of battledore and shuttlecock.
Alec, stopping to nod and smile at the bright-faced figure resting on the old bamboo chair, after a lively game of battledore and shuttlecock, in place of a run which a storm prevented.
Maud, however, without a hat of any sort, her long, luxuriant, silken, golden tresses covering her shoulders, and occasionally veiling her warm, rich cheek, was exercising with a battledore, keeping Little Smash, now increased in size to quite fourteen stone, rather actively employed as an assistant, whenever the exuberance of her own spirits caused her to throw the plaything beyond her reach.
It was a battledore and shuttlecock talk, to be kept going until the door opened and the gentlemen came in.
Anything and everything serves to keep up a game of battledore and shuttlecock with words and ideas.
The only thing they knew about it was that the road was so full of ruts and pits that they were jolted from side to side and flung up and down as though the carriage were playing battledore and shuttlecock with them.
Mary a toy tea-set, cups and saucers decorated with pink roses, and for David battledore and shuttlecock.
She could read, write, walk, busy herself with stitchery, play at battledore and shuttlecock with Torquil, or loiter her time away.
Games of battledore and shuttlecock with Torquil were more a penance than a pleasure, for not only was he an indifferent player but an extremely bad-tempered one as well, frequently hurling his battledore from him in disgust, tearing the feathers from the shuttlecock, or walking off the court in a fury.
We found two in a cupboard, among a heap of old toys, tops, and hoops, and battledores and shuttlecocks.
INCLUDING Jack the Giant Killer, Cock Robin, Tom Thumb, Whittington, Goody Two Shoes, Philip Quarll, Tommy Trip, York and Banbury Cries, Children in the Wood, Dame Trot, Horn Books, Battledores, Primers, etc.