SPILLIKINS (M.D., spelleken, little

See also:

• PIN (a doublet with " pen " from Lat. pinna, feather, pinnacle, which is said to contain the same root as irirvs, pine tree, and properly to mean a sharp point or end)

pin), or JACKSTRAWS (originally " jerk-straws" )  , a game of some antiquity played with a set of slender sticks of wood, bone or ivory, from 3 to 6 in. long, generally carved to represent weapons and utensils of various kinds, which are thrown in a heap haphazard upon the table . The players then endeavour in turn to extricate from the heap, one at a time, as many straws as possible, without moving any except the one, angled for . The player obtaining the most straws wins . The game is called in French jonchets and in German Federspiel .