battledore

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a light, solid-faced racket formerly used to keep a shuttlecock in the air

   Each child raised a battledore and tried to strike the falling shuttlecock.

2. 2
   noun

   the old game of battledore and shuttlecock, a forerunner of badminton

   They played battledore on the lawn until the shuttlecock landed in a tree.

From Middle English batildore and related forms, probably blending Middle English betel, 'bat or club,' with Old Occitan batedor, 'beater.' The name first referred to the paddle-like implement and then to the game played by striking a shuttlecock back and forth.

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