[Of doubtful origin: cf. SQUAIL v.2 and SKAYLES.]
1. pl. The game of ninepins; skittles. s.w. dial.
1847. in Halliwell (Somerset).
1883, 1883. in Hampshire and Somerset glossaries.
2. pl. A table-game in which counters or disks are propelled towards some mark by snapping.
App. introduced in 1857 by Mr. John Jaques, London.
1862. Pollock, Pers. Remembr. (1887), II. 105. Drank tea with Faradays at Royal Institution, and played at squails.
1865. Pall Mall Gaz., 12 June, 21. Squails, or some such frivolous game, often serves to banish ennui.
b. A disk or counter used in this game.
1862. Calverley, Verses & Transl., 16. Or anon … Urge towards the table’s centre, With unerring hand, the squail.
1900. A. Upward, Eben. Lobb, 153. An overcoat … with a driver’s cape, and eighteen buttons, the size of squails, down the front.
3. = SQUAILER. (See also SQUOYLE.)
1883–. in dial. glossaries (Hamps., Berks., Wilts.).
1899. Outlook, 7 Jan., 714/1.
