n.
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(chequers)
a pattern of alternately coloured squares.
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(checkers)
[treated as sing.]
N. Amer. the game of draughts.
▸
(checker)
a piece used in this game.
v.
- divide into or mark with chequers.
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[as adj. chequered]
marked by periods of fluctuating fortune:
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a chequered career.
Etymology
ME (in the sense ‘chessboard’, giving rise to chequered meaning ‘marked like a chessboard’): from exchequer.
