Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A game played by two teams of three or four players on horseback who are equipped with long-handled mallets for driving a small wooden ball through the opponents' goal.
  • noun Water polo.
  • noun A polo shirt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A game of ball resembling hockey, played on horseback. It is of Eastern origin, and is played in India, whence it has been introduced into Europe and America.
  • noun A Spanish gipsy dance which originated in Andalusia, and closely resembles certain Eastern dances in its wild contortions of the body.
  • noun The game may be played by any number of persons, from two or three to half a dozen on a side. The ponies are limited to a specified height or weight, and are specially bred and trained for the sport. The mallet is long enough for the player to reach the ball on the ground when he is sitting upright in the saddle, and is provided with a strap which goes over the hand. The object of the game is to drive the ball through goals erected at each end of the field. The side which succeeds in driving the ball through these goals the greater number of times during certain fixed periods of play wins the game. There is one referee whose duty it is to start the play, and also to throw the ball in when it has been knocked out of bounds. The boundary of the field consists of a board projecting above the ground about a foot, which usually prevents the rolling ball from going out of bounds. The rules of the game differ somewhat in different countries. The English rules insist upon on-side methods, but allow the hooking of mallets; while the American rules admit of off-side play, but not of thus interfering with an opponent's stroke.
  • noun In the Philippine Islands, formerly, an obligation imposed upon each Filipino man, except those of nigh rank, to labor forty days in each year on public works, such as the making or repair of roads and bridges, etc. The obligation lasted from the age of 16 or 18 years to the age of 60 years, and could be commuted by a money payment.
  • noun In Samoa, the cannibal apple, Solanum Uporo, and other plants of the nightshade family, bearing smooth red fruit. See cannibal apple, and cannibal's tomato, under tomato.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A game of ball of Eastern origin, resembling hockey, with the players on horseback.
  • noun A similar game played on the ice, or on a prepared floor, by players wearing skates.
  • noun A game similar to hockey played by swimmers.
  • noun A Spanish gypsy dance characterized by energetic movements of the body while the feet merely shuffle or glide, with unison singing and rhythmic clapping of hands.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable A ball game where two teams of players on horseback use long-handled mallets to propel the ball along the ground and into their opponent's goal.
  • noun A similar game played on the ice, or on a prepared floor, by players wearing skates.
  • noun countable A polo shirt

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun Venetian traveler who explored Asia in the 13th century and served Kublai Khan (1254-1324)
  • noun a game similar to field hockey but played on horseback using long-handled mallets and a wooden ball

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Balti (Tibeto-Burman language of Pakistan), ball; akin to Tibetan (Lhasa dialect) pulu.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Balti པོ་ལོ (pulu, "ball").

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  • a mint

    October 10, 2011