quoits

Game in which flattened rings of iron or circles of rope (both called quoits) are thrown at an upright pin (hob) in an attempt to ring it or come as near to it as possible.

Quoits may have been played in Roman-occupied Britain (1st–5th century AD), and it may have given rise to horseshoe pitching.

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▪ game

      game in which players toss rings at a stake, called the hob. A ring that encircles the hob scores two points for the thrower; a ring closer to the hob than an opponent's scores one. The rings are usually made of iron and weigh about three pounds, but rope or rubber rings are also used. It has been said that the game was played in Roman-occupied Britain (1st–5th century), or it may have been developed in medieval Britain, perhaps when peasants heated and bent horseshoes into rings and tossed them at iron pegs driven into the ground. Later, in the United States and Canada, horseshoe pitching became the more popular game.

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