Jackstraw

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Jackstraw \Jack"straw`\, n.
     1. An effigy stuffed with straw; a scarecrow; hence, a man
        without property or influence. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One of a set of straws of strips of ivory, bone, wood,


        etc., for playing a child's game, the jackstraws being
        thrown confusedly together on a table, to be gathered up
        singly by a hooked instrument, without touching or
        disturbing the rest of the pile. See {Spilikin}. A modern
        variation, called {pick-up-sticks} (U.S. 1940+), is played
        with thin wooden sticks of different colors, each color
        having different values for scoring; the sticks are
        dislodged from the pile with the hand or with one of the
        sticks.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  jackstraw
       n : a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws
           [syn: {spillikin}]