Dictionary

kerby en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kɝbi/ (General-American)
• /kɜːbi/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From kerb + -y.

Meanings

1. (UK, uncountable) A children's ball game played in the street, the aim being to throw the ball against the opposite kerb and catch it on the rebound.
   • It's dusk and there are a lot of kids out playing kerby and tag and football. For a December night, the weather isn't bad. 2011, Adrian McKinty, Dead I Well May Be, page 133:
   • I'd play kerby in the street for hours looking up at contrails stretching across grey slate skies, wishing I was on a plane too, jetting away to somewhere else. 2014, Simon Danczuk, Matt Baker, Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith:
   • The heat from the tarmac refracted the light and disturbed the vision of the children as they persisted in their game of kerby. 2014, Samantha Nash, All Muck and Mullets, page 43:

Forms