skittle
To play skittlesTo play skittles.
» Life's not all beer and skittles.
Meaning
5 senses(intransitive)To play skittles.
play skittles
(transitive)(with down) To squander one's money.
(transitive)(sometimes with out) To rapidly bowl out a succession of batsmen.
(sometimes with out) To rapidly bowl out a succession of batsmen.
(figuratively, transitive)To defeat easily.
(transitive)To knock down (skittles).
Examples
5 sentencesLife's not all beer and skittles.
Life is not all beer and skittles.
ruЖизнь - это не только забавы и развлечения.
deDas Leben ist nicht nur Vergnügen und Spaß.
He only managed to bowl down one skittle out of nine.
The reward for finishing early is a bag of Skittles.
Ever the organizer, Reggie separates his Skittles into groupings of the same flavor before he eats them.
Origin
Origin unknown. Perhaps of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse skutill (“bolt, harpoon”)Origin unknown. Perhaps of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse skutill (“bolt, harpoon”), related to skjóta (“to shoot”), but the OED dismisses this connection as conjecture. The Old Norse word is related to Swedish and Danish skyttel (“shuttle, child's toy”). Compare also Old English sċytel (“a dart, bolt”). More at shuttle.
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Forms
skittles, skittling, skittled, skittledWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle