nounmarleys, marlies

• 1Northern Irish informal A small ball of coloured glass or similar material used as a toy; a marble.

  More example sentences

  • ‘your knuckles are skinned from shooting marleys’
  • ‘Marlie season was most popular in the summertime but extended all year long.’
  • ‘Take the marlies out of yer mouth and give us all a game.’
  • ‘When my mother forced me and my brother to wash the dishes or vacuum our room, we managed to break a dish or two and suck marlies up the cleaner.’
  • ‘There are no cheap options of 'marlies' or 'conkers'; today it is all games consoles and music players!’

  1. 1.1marleys or marliestreated as singular A game in which marbles are rolled along the ground with the aim of hitting those of one's opponent.
     More example sentences

     • ‘she had a flair for marleys’
     • ‘We gathered on a dusty patch in front of the playing fields for a game of marlies.’
     • ‘The rules and regulations of marleys, for instance, were fairly simple.’
     • ‘They just can't help spending our money on receptions for anything from the synchronised swimming team to the world-acclaimed left-handed marlies champions.’
     • ‘Spitting, marleys, fights, and rolling down hills are the ingredients that make up the lives of these two accidental friends from different parts of town.’