pall-mall

pall-mall  (plml, plml, pôlmôl)

n.

1. A 17th-century game in which a boxwood ball was struck with a mallet to drive it through an iron ring suspended at the end of an alley.

2. The alley in which this game was played.

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[Obsolete French pallemaille, from Italian pallamaglio : palla, ball (of Germanic origin; see bhel-² in Indo-European roots) + maglio, mallet (from Latin malleus; see mel- in Indo-European roots).]

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pall-mall [ˈpælˈmæl]

n Obsolete

1. (Team Sports, other than specified) a game in which a ball is driven by a mallet along an alley and through an iron ring

2. (Team Sports, other than specified) the alley itself

[from obsolete French, from Italian pallamaglio, from palla ball + maglio mallet]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

pall-mall - a 17th century game; a wooden ball was driven along an alley with a mallet game - a contest with rules to determine a winner; "you need four people to play this game"