battledore and shuttlecock

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"battledore-and-shuttlecock" is a 24-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“battledore and shuttlecock” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
26
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An early version of the game badminton.

Key facts for battledore and shuttlecock
PropertyValue
Headwordbattledore and shuttlecock
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters26
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “battledore and shuttlecock” sits in English frequency

battledore and shuttlecock falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

battledore and shuttlecock is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An early version of the game badminton.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for battledore and shuttlecock, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is battledore and shuttlecock, spelled B-A-T-T-L-E-D-O-R-E- -A-N-D- -S-H-U-T-T-L-E-C-O-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    An early version of the game badminton.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "battledore and shuttlecock"?
"battledore and shuttlecock" is spelled B-A-T-T-L-E-D-O-R-E- -A-N-D- -S-H-U-T-T-L-E-C-O-C-K.
What does "battledore and shuttlecock" mean?
As a noun, "battledore and shuttlecock" means: An early version of the game badminton.
What language does "battledore and shuttlecock" come from?
"battledore and shuttlecock" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “battledore and shuttlecock”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-A-T-T-L-E-D-O-R-E- -A-N-D- -S-H-U-T-T-L-E-C-O-C-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list