Billiards
//ˈbɪlɪədz// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A two-player cue sport played with two cue balls and one red ball, on a snooker sized table. British, uncountable
"He was playing billiards in the casino."
- 2 plural of billiard form-of, plural
- 3 any of several games played on rectangular cloth-covered table (with cushioned edges) in which long tapering cue sticks are used to propel ivory (or composition) balls wordnet
- 4 Any of various games played on a tabletop, usually with several balls, one or more of which is hit by a cue. US, uncountable
Example
More examples"She says she can't play billiards, but she wins every time. It must be beginner's luck."
Etymology
From French billard, originally referring to the wooden cue stick, diminutive of Old French bille (“log, tree trunk”), from Vulgar Latin *bilia, probably of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish bile (“large tree, tree trunk”)), from Proto-Celtic *belyos (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰolh₃yos (“leaf”), from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).
Related phrases
More for "billiards"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.