Shuttlecock

Pronunciation

Origin

shuttle (from the back-and-forth sense of the word originating with loom weaving) + cock (from resemblance to a male bird's plume of tail feathers). Attested from 1522.

Full definition of shuttlecock

Noun

1. (badminton) A lightweight object that is conical in shape with a cork or rubber-covered nose, used in badminton the way a ball is used in other racquet games.
2. (dated) The game of badminton.
• 1830, Mrs. Marcet (Jane Haldimand), Bertha's visit to her uncle in England (volume 3, page 105)Two people stand at opposite ends of the room, as in playing shuttlecock...

Synonyms

• (lightweight object used in badminton) birdie

Related terms

• battledore and shuttlecock

Verb

1. To move rapidly back and forth
2. To send or toss back and forth; to bandyto shuttlecock words