billiard

Everyday

1. Belonging to the game of billiards: a game played on a large table covered in green cloth, where players hit balls with a long stick called a cue. tree →
2. (billiards) The game itself; snooker and pool are related games. tree →

In the lessons

In big houses like Toad Hall there was a billiard room; in The Wind in the Willows the weasels and stoats feast in Toad's house. In maths and science, billiard balls show angles of bouncing (the angle a ball hits the cushion equals the angle it bounces off) and how energy passes from one ball to another. Phrases: «billiard table», «billiard ball», «bald as a billiard ball».

Examples

• The old house had a billiard room with a huge green table. tree →
• The billiard balls clicked together. tree →
• Grandad taught me to play billiards. tree →
• A billiard ball bounces off the cushion at the same angle it hits it. tree →
• The billiard cue was taller than me. tree →
• «He's as bald as a billiard ball!» laughed Dad. tree →

Note

«Billiard» (no s) is used before a noun: «a billiard table». The game is «billiards», which takes a singular verb: «Billiards is fun.»