skittle

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
skittle/ˈskɪtl/

▶noun

• 1 (skittles) [treated as sing.] a game played with wooden pins, typically nine in number, set up at the end of an alley to be bowled down with a wooden ball or disc.

  ■ (also table skittles) a game played with similar pins set up on a board to be knocked down by swinging a suspended ball.

• 2 a pin used in the game of skittles.

• 3 (skittles) [treated as sing.] Brit. informal chess that is not played seriously.

▶verb knock over as if in a game of skittles.

■ Cricket get (batsmen) out in rapid succession.

– origin C17: of unknown origin.