Meaning of able whackets | Babel Free

Definitions

Blows on the hand from a knotted or twisted handkerchief, especially given as a punishment to the loser of certain card games.

historical, plural, plural-only, slang

Examples

“The chief amusement or game in use in the midshipmen's berth, was ‘able whackets’, a pastime in which cards, blasphemy, and hard knocks were agreeably mingled.”

“Instead of the usual sailors' games of cards and ablewhackets, there was the clicking of dice, with games of parcheesi unfolding on chequerboards of rope […].”

CEFR level