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Fine Dictionary

shuttlecock

WordNet
Unfolded envelope depicting a woman and a girl, both holding bat in hands, playing shuttlecock; pine branches in the foreground.
Unfolded envelope depicting a woman and a girl, both holding bat in hands, playing shuttlecock; pine branches in the foreground.
  1. (v) shuttlecock
    send or toss to and fro, like a shuttlecock
  2. (n) shuttlecock
    badminton equipment consisting of a ball of cork or rubber with a crown of feathers
Illustrations
A shuttlecock between the needles of a pine tree; with three haiku poems. The pine tree is a New Year's symbol in Japan, and the feather ball also refers to it; 'feather ball', a kind of badminton, was traditionally played at New Year.
Pine branch
Woman and girl play with shuttlecock and kickboards. The numbers of the long months are visible on the obi of the woman.
Woman and girl play with shuttlecock and kickboards. The numbers of the long months are visible on the obi of the woman.
Six girls of different ages in frames, playing with badminton racket and shuttlecock, ball, skipping rope, book, doll and dolls pram. According to the caption: children's clothing from Maison Naud. Below are a few lines of advertising text for different products. Print from the fashion magazine Le Moniteur de la Mode (1843-1913).
Six girls of different ages in frames, playing with badminton racket and shuttlecock, ball, skipping rope, book, doll and dolls pram. According to the caption: children's clothing from Maison Naud. Below are a few lines of advertising text for different products. Print from the fashion magazine Le Moniteur de la Mode (1843-1913).
A still life of a bat with a shuttlecock (hanetsuki), an old variant of badminton. Courtiers are depicted on the bat. With three poems.
A still life of a bat with a shuttlecock (hanetsuki), an old variant of badminton. Courtiers are depicted on the bat. With three poems.
Young man and girl, both with bat in right hand, looking up at the shuttlecock above the fence behind which a tree with blossom is visible.
Young man and girl, both with bat in right hand, looking up at the shuttlecock above the fence behind which a tree with blossom is visible.
Woman with bat in right hand and ball in left hand, standing on a platform with bamboo and pine branches tied together. On the ground before the elevation her shoes were taken off. Poem in top part of print.
Young woman plays shuttlecock
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. Shuttlecock
    A cork stuck with feathers, which is to be struck by a battledoor in play; also, the play itself.
  2. Shuttlecock
    To send or toss to and fro; to bandy; as, to shuttlecock words.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) shuttlecock
    A piece of cork, or of similar light material, in one end of which feathers are stuck, made to be struck by a battledore in play; also, the play or game. See phrase below.
  2. (n) shuttlecock
    A malvaceous shrub, Periptera punicea of Mexico, the only species of a still dubious genus. It has crimson flowers and a many-celled radiate capsule, one or other suggesting the name.
  3. shuttlecock
    To throw or bandy backward and forward like a shuttlecock.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Shuttlecock
    a rounded cork stuck with feathers, driven with a battledore: the game itself
Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary From base of A.S. sceótan, shoot; Dan. and Sw. skyttel.

Usage in the news

Think of it as an elaborate badminton shuttlecock. ashingtonpost.com

The shuttlecocks (or "birdies" to the casual fan) contain 16 goose feathers eventually have parachuting effect in flight, but, the speeds coming off the racket are almost blinding. csmonitor.com

Sometimes children's book reviewers bandy about the term "classic" like it was some kind of verbal shuttlecock. blog.schoollibraryjournal.com

Shuttlecocks and Misplaced Rage at the Olympics. businessweek.com

Usage in literature

I make her play at shuttlecock with me, and she is the veriest bungler at it ever you saw. "The Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple, 1652-54"

Once more Palestine became a shuttlecock between the kingdoms of the Nile and the Euphrates. "Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations" by Archibald Sayce

Between the two Marcella would be a shuttlecock. "Captivity" by M. Leonora Eyles

The two alternatives flew back and forth in her mind like shuttlecocks. "The Vehement Flame" by Margaret Wade Campbell Deland

The child, who was but seven years of age, was bandied to and fro like a shuttlecock between rival adventurers. "A Short History of Scotland" by Andrew Lang

He and Ben jumped into the air like shuttlecocks, and seemed to like it. "Two Knapsacks" by John Campbell

I am tired of going death-hunting, and not fool enough to play a game of shuttlecock with a lump of gold. "Dr. Dumany's Wife" by Mór Jókai

The unfortunate town of Winchester seems to have been made a regular shuttlecock of by the contending armies. "Three Months in the Southern States, April-June 1863" by Arthur J. L. (Lieut.-Col.) Fremantle

You saw only two things: the shuttlecock, and your partner in the game. "Gryll Grange" by Thomas Love Peacock

Or it is like the children's game of shuttlecock. "Preventable Diseases" by Woods Hutchinson

Usage in poetry
A life like a shuttlecock may be toss'd
With the hand of fate for a battledore;
But it matters much for your sweet soul lost,
As much as a million souls and more.
"No Name" by Adam Lindsay Gordon Author object (13)