What is "battledore and shuttlecock"

n. (context obsolete English) An early version of the game ''badminton''.

n. an ancient racket game [syn: battledore]

Battledore and shuttlecock or jeu de volant is an early game similar to that of modern badminton.

This game is played by two people, with small rackets, called battledores, made of parchment or rows of gut stretched across wooden frames, and shuttlecocks, made of a base of some light material, like cork, with trimmed feathers fixed round the top. The object of the players is to bat the shuttlecock from one to the other as many times as possible without allowing it to fall to the ground.

Games with a shuttlecock are believed to have originated in about 2,000 years ago.

The game has been popular in India, China, Japan, and Siam for at least 2,000 years. In Europe it was played by children for centuries. A further development is badminton.