Meaning & use
coconut shy
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A fairground game where you throw balls at coconuts balanced on stands to knock them down and win a prize.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a coconut shy' or 'two coconut shies'.
Patterns
- throw at a coconut shy
- win at a coconut shy
At the village fair, the children spent all their money at the coconut shy.
He won a giant teddy bear by knocking three coconuts off the stands at the coconut shy.
Word forms
| plural | coconut shies |
|---|
Common combinations
- at the coconut shy
- She tried her luck at the coconut shy but missed every time.
- run a coconut shy
- The school runs a coconut shy every year to raise funds.
- knock a coconut off
- He knocked a coconut off its stand with his first throw.
Synonyms and how they differ
- coconut game
- A more general term that could refer to any game involving coconuts; 'coconut shy' is the specific British fairground version.
Commonly confused: coconut shy or shy?
coconut shy vs shy
As an adjective, 'shy' means nervous around people. In 'coconut shy', it is a noun meaning a game, so don't confuse the two.
Practice
What do you do at a coconut shy?
Choose one answer.
A coconut shy is a game where you throw balls at coconuts on stands to knock them down. The other options describe activities that are not part of this fairground game.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coconut shy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.