(French dialect for "crook," "hockey stick") Game in which players using mallets drive wooden balls through a series of wickets, or hoops, set out on a lawn.
The object is to be the first to complete the course by passing through all the wickets and hitting a goal peg. Croquet evolved from the 13th-century French game pall-mall. Championship matches are organized by governing bodies in the U.S. and Britain.