different between marbles vs cantankerous

English

Noun

marbles pl (plural only)

1. Any of several children's games played with small balls (made of marble or more commonly glass).

2. (figuratively, usually in a limited number of expressions) Sanity.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sanity

   • 2012, J. T. Petty, Bloody Chester, First Second, ?ISBN, p. 63:

     —Her daddy's crazy. [...] Think she's looking for something?
     —Treasure, I expect. That or maybe her daddy's marbles.

3. (motor racing) Bits of rolled-up rubber shed by the tires of race cars that accumulate at the edges of the track, especially at the corners.

Derived terms

• all one's marbles
• lose one's marbles

Translations

Noun

marbles

1. plural of marble

Verb

marbles

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of marble

Further reading

• marble (toy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Amblers, amblers, blamers, lambers, rambles

English

Etymology

Perhaps derived from earlier contenkerous, from contentious + rancorous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kæn?tæ?k???s/, /k?n?tæ?k???s/

Adjective

cantankerous (comparative more cantankerous, superlative most cantankerous)

1. Given to or marked by an ill-tempered nature; ill-tempered, cranky, surly, crabby.

Usage notes

Note: cantankerous is generally used to describe an unpleasant elderly person in a slightly pejorative manner. However, the term can be used to people in general, livestock, and machinery as well.

Synonyms

• cranky
• grouchy
• grumpy
• ornery
• surly
• truculent

Derived terms

Translations