croquet

views updated May 11 2018

cro·quet / krōˈkā/ • n. a game played on a lawn, in which colored wooden balls are driven through a series of wickets by means of mallets: [as adj.] a croquet lawn. ∎  an act of croqueting a ball.• v. (-queted / -ˈkād/ , -quet·ing / -ˈkāing/ ) [tr.] drive away (an opponent's ball) by holding one's own ball against it and striking this with the mallet.

croquet

views updated May 11 2018

croquet may have originated in France, since most of the terms are French in origin, and seems to have been played in England in the 16th cent. Like many games, it became standardized in the Victorian period and an English tournament was organized at Evesham in 1867. Three years later a conference laid down rules, though these have been substantially modified. Simple versions are played in many private gardens, with unexpected hazards, but the national game is administered by the Croquet Association at the Hurlingham Club.

J. A. Cannon

croquet

views updated May 29 2018

croquet Lawn game, popular in Britain and the USA, in which wooden balls are hit with wooden mallets through a series of six wire hoops towards a peg. The first player to complete all 12 hoops (each hoop in both directions) and reach the peg wins the game. On the way, a player can ‘roquet’ an opponent, by hitting the opponent's ball to a position of disadvantage on the lawn (usually the ‘wrong’ side of a hoop). Croquet developed in France in the 17th century.

croquet

views updated May 09 2018

croquet XIX. Supposed to be — var. of F. crochet hook; see CROCHET, CROTCHET.