checkers

noun

check·​ers ˈche-kərz 

plural in form but singular in construction

: a checkerboard game for 2 players each with 12 pieces

Word History

Etymology

plural of checker entry 1

Note: Plurality here presumably alludes to the multiple number of playing pieces, as with other games denoted by plural nouns, though the noun pluralized is not itself a playing piece. As a name for the game checkers is an Americanism, apparently first attested in the journal of the Massachusetts magistrate Samuel Sewall (1652-1730). The usual British correspondent is draughts, but Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary recorded checkers in the northern English counties of Northumberland and Durham.

First Known Use

1712, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing checkers

• Chinese checkers

Rhymes for checkers

• chequers
• deckers
• trekkers
• wreckers
• woodpeckers

Kids Definition

checkers

noun

check·​ers ˈchek-ərz 

: a game played on a checkerboard by two persons each having 12 pieces