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Meanings of skittles in English

Portuguese
bolão
Catalan
joc de bitlles

A bowling game that is played by rolling a bowling ball down a bowling alley at a target of nine wooden pins.

bolão
Usage of skittles in English
1
The relaxations of the humbler class, are fives, quoits, skittles, and ale.
An History of Birmingham (1783)
2
They next add one or two more skittles and say, for instance:
The Unknown Guest
3
Before long, the skittles were replaced by figures written on a blackboard.
The Unknown Guest
4
Mr. Howard, it was anything but beer and skittles for me then.
At Love's Cost
5
Something may be learned, we firmly believe, even from skittles and ping-pong.
Punch, or the London Charivari, July 1, 1914
6
I rammed in, windmillin' all round and knocking 'em down like skittles.
Tales of Chinatown
7
DBC Pierre Forming an outlook on life isn't all beer and skittles.
The Guardian
8
At kick-offs he's like a blond bowling ball in a skittles alley.
The Guardian
9
Oh, no, life on The Road is not all beer and skittles.
The Road
10
That was the most melancholy game at skittles I ever took part in.
Successful Recitations
11
There has been no playing at skittles for me in either.
Miscellanies
12
But it's not all beer and skittles for the small festivals.
The Irish Times
13
He found conversation with detectives as lively as playing at skittles with bombshells.
The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes
14
I can do many things, from driving engines to playing skittles.
The Tidal Wave and Other Stories
15
My work dries up and calendar events topple like skittles.
The Irish Times
16
Children can be gunned down for carrying skittles and their murderers can be acquitted.
Ebony
About this term
More collocations
Translations for skittles
Portuguese
bolão
Skittles through the time
Skittles across language varieties
United Kingdom
Common