a game played on grass in which players use mallets (= sticks with a block of wood at one end) to knock wooden balls through a series of hoops (= curved wires)槌球（在草地上进行，以木槌击木球穿过一连串的铁圈）CultureCroquet became popular among the upper classes in Britain in the 1850s, and is still often regarded as an upper-class game today. The All England Croquet Club began at Wimbledon in 1868. The four countries where croquet is most played are Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Topics Sports: other sportsc2, Games and toysc2Word Originmid 19th cent.: perhaps a dialect form of French crochet ‘hook’.