conker
noun /ˈkɒŋkə(r)/
/ˈkɑːŋkər/
(British English, informal)- [countable] the smooth shiny brown nut of the horse chestnut tree synonym horse chestnut (2) compare chestnut
enlarge image - conkers[uncountable] a children’s game played with conkers on strings, in which two players take turns to try to hit and break each other’s conkerTopics Games and toysc2
Word Originmid 19th cent. (a dialect word denoting a snail shell, with which the game, or a form of it, was originally played): perhaps from conch, but associated with (and frequently spelled) conquer in the 19th and early 20th cents: an alternative name was conquerors.