n [ U ]
a game played on grass in which the players hit balls through a series of hoops, using a mallet (= a wooden hammer with a long handle). Croquet became popular among the upper classes in Britain in the 1850s, and is still often regarded as an upper-class game today. The All England Croquet Club began at Wimbledon in 1868. The four countries where croquet is most played (Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US) compete every three or four years for the MacRobertson Shield.