jacks
n. uncountablen. a game played with small metal pieces and a ball. You try to pick up the pieces while the ball bounces.
n. a traditional children's game played with a set of small, six-pointed metal or plastic objects and a rubber ball. Often used with a singular verb despite the plural form.
The children are playing jacks on the sidewalk.
During the school break, students often gathered in the courtyard to play a quick round of jacks.
While digital entertainment has largely superseded traditional street games, the rhythmic clatter of jacks remains a nostalgic sound for many who grew up in the mid-twentieth century.
When referring to the game itself, it is treated as uncountable and takes a singular verb; when referring to the individual pieces, it is countable.