jackstraw

A game played with a pile of straws or thin sticks, with the players attempting in turn to remove a single stick without disturbing the others.

One of the straws or sticks used in this game.

A figure or effigy of a man made of straw; hence, a man without any substance or means; a dependent. Also jack of straw.

One of a set of straws or strips of ivory, wood, bone, or the like, used in a children’s game.

plural The game thus played.

[capitalized] In English history, a name assumed by rick-burners and destroyers of machines during the early years of the nineteenth century.

The whitethroat, Sylvia cinerea, also called winnell-straw, from the straw used in making its nest. See strawsmall.

The blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla.

The narrow-leafed plantain, Plantago lanceolata. Also called rib-grass and English plantain.

An effigy stuffed with straw; a scarecrow; hence, a man without property or influence.