diabolo
(diː-, daɪˈæbələʊ)
[It., = devil.]
The game of the devil-on-two-sticks revived under this name. Also, the wooden top with which the game is played. Hence diˈabolist, a player of the game.
The game consists in balancing and spinning a double-headed top on a string (which is supported on two sticks), throwing it into the air, and catching it again.
| 1907 C.B. Fry's Mag. Mar. 582 The Devil Game: Diabolo. Ibid. 586/2 It is not difficult to learn to spin the diabolo. Ibid. 587/2 The diabolo game can be played by sides of almost any number. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 25 Sept. 12/1 The inventor of the modern Diabolo is M. Gustave Phillipart, a French engineer, well known in the automobile world. 1922 C. E. M. Joad Highbrows iv. 135 They invent some quaint form of amusement like diabolo or roller-skating. 1964 W. L. Goodman Hist. Woodworking Tools 196 The curiously small, diabolo-shaped mallet. |