[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/skittle/)

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# skittle

noun (a skittle, skittles); skittles (the game)

«skittle» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A wooden or plastic bottle-shaped piece that players try to knock down with a ball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#m1)
2. Skittles is the game played with them, an older cousin of ten-pin bowling. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#m2)
3. (UK, informal) «Bowl over like skittles» or «knocked down like skittles» means many things falling quickly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#m3)

### In the lessons

A game word. Children play skittles in the garden or at a school fair; it is good for counting how many fell and how many stand. In The Wind in the Willows the animals and people of the old world play skittles in inns. Phrase: «Life is not all beer and skittles» (UK, old) means life is not all fun.

### Examples

- We set up nine skittles at the end of the hall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#x1)
- Sam knocked down six skittles with one ball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#x2)
- Let's play skittles in the garden! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#x3)
- The bowling ball scattered the skittles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#x4)
- The wind knocked the bins over like skittles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#x5)
- Life isn't all beer and skittles, said Grandad. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/#x6)

### Note

Countable noun; the game «skittles» takes a singular verb: «Skittles is fun.» In maths: if there are 9 skittles and 6 fall, 9 − 6 = 3 are left standing. «Skittles» is also a brand of sweets; that is a name.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «skittle» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skittle/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«skittle» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/skittle.html) on Mova free.