nineholes (ninholz)

1. A game in which nine holes are made in a board or the ground, at which the players roll small balls. Th' unhappy wags, which let their cattle stray, At Nine - holes on the heath while they together play. Drayton, Polyolbion, xiv. 22. Some say the game of nine - holes was called "Bubble the Justice," on the supposition that it could not be set aside by the justices. Strutt , Sports and Pastimes, p. 368. 2. Same as nine - eyes . nine-killer (nin'kil"ėr), n. [ nine + killer ; also called nine - murder (see nine - murder ), and in G. neuntödter, 'nine-killer,' from the common belief that these shrikes were wont to kill just nine birds a day.] A shrike or butcher-bird. The term was originally applied to certain European species, as Lanius excubitor and Lanius (or Enneoctonus ) collurio , and subsequently extended to others, as L. borealis of the United States. nine-lived (nin'livd), a. Having nine lives, as the cat is humorously said to have; hence, not easy to kill; escaping great perils or surviving grave wounds or hurts: as, a reckle nine - lived fellow.