BILLIARDS
ADJECTIVES
1909 ► TIGHT of pockets: having a small opening compared with the diameter of the balls → sl.
1909 ► TIGHT said of balls when they are in contact → sl.
NOUNS
1598 ► HAZARD one of the holes or pockets in the sides of a billiard table → obs.
1674 ► STICK a billiard cue → sl.
1688 ► MACE a stick with a flat square head, formerly used for propelling the balls; now superseded by the cue → obs. rare, billiards’ usage
1688 ► TACK a billiards cue → obs. rare
1731 ► MAST a kind of heavy cue, of which the broad end was used for striking → obs., billiards’ usage
19C.. ► ACADEMY a billiard room → sl.
1806 ► BATOON → BATTOON a billiards cue Amer. dial.
1830 ► IVORIES billiard balls → sl.
1839 ► CANNON a stroke in which the player’s ball is made to hit one of the other balls in such a way as to glance from it and strike the second
1896 ► JENNY a losing hazard into the middle pocket off a ball an inch or two from the side cushion → billiards’ usage (Bk.)
1896 ► JIGGER the ‘bridge’ or ‘rest’ for the cue when a ball is beyond arm’s length → billiards’ sl. (Bk.)
1930 ► LAMBETH WALK the chalk used in billiards → rhyming sl.
1970 ► BAT a billiards cue → Amer. dial.
1993 ► MUD a billiard ball → US sl.
NOUNS, PERSON
1775 ► BILLIARD-MARKER a person who marks the ‘points’ made by each player, and keeps account of the progress of the game
1865 ► BILLIARDIST a billiard player
1866 ► BISMARCKER → BISMARQUER a cheat at billiards
1870 ► CUEIST a person skilled in the use of a billiard cue
1883 ► HEELER a partner of a billiards gambler → criminals’ sl. obs.
1891 ► BLACKLEG a cheat at billiards → sl. (Bk.)
1941 ► HIGH-UP MAN a billiard player who lives by his wits, putting up ‘at the hotel in style, and busily reducing the bank balance of the local billiard players’ → Aust. sl.
2006 ► BANGER a clumsy, ineffective billiards player → Amer. sl. (Bk.)
VERBS
1679 ► HAZARD to ‘pocket’ a ball → obs.
1844 ► CANNON to play one’s ball so as to make a ‘cannon’; also, of the ball: to strike and rebound
1904 ► STRING to cast for play; each player to the top of the table to return to balk, the one nearest the bottom cushion then has the choice → sl. (Bk.)
Lexicophilia 