pachinko en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /pəˈt͡ʃɪŋkəʊ/
- pə-chĭng'kō
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese パチンコ (pachinko), from ぱちん (pachin, onomatopoeic sound of the machines) + こ (ko, diminutive). Compare etymology of gacha, from Japanese ガシャポン.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A mechanical ball-dropping game similar to pinball, popular in Japan.
The rain kept up, falling along Harajuku, beading on her plastic jacket, the children of Tokyo trooping past the famous boutiques in white loafers and clingwrap capes, until she'd stood with him in the midnight clatter of a pachinko parlor and held his hand like a child.
1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 8:Two teen-age boys, after selling their personal belongings to play pachinko, sold their blood to "gamble.”
1952 October 12, Ray Falk, “Pinball Panic Over Japan: ‘Pachinko’ is a zany game; its havoc is nation-wide”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2025:Snow filled her mouth. She caromed off things she never saw, tumbling through a cluttered canyon like a steel marble falling through pins in a pachinko machine.
2012 December 26, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2013:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pachinco | alternative | lexicographic | |
| pachinkos | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
pachislo · pachinko machine · pachinko allocation · pachisuro · pachislot
Translations (12)
es pachinko (game) · ko 파친코 (game) · fi pachinko (game) · cmn 彈珠機 /弹珠机 (game) · ja パチンコ (game) · mr पाचिन्को (game) · hi पाचिंको (game) · yue 波子機 /波子机 (game) · pl pachinko (game) · ru пати́нко (game) · cmn 柏青哥 (game) · nl pachinko (game)