Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of forfeit.
  • noun A game in which forfeits are demanded
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of forfeit.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The forfeits are a result of an investigation of academic misconduct at Florida State, a probe conducted by the NCAA's Division I Committee on Infractions.

    unknown title 2009

  • Everyone "forfeits" his insurance premium if he has no need to file a claim.

    David Fiderer: The Wall Street Journal Glosses Over the Pitfalls of Credit Default Swaps 2009

  • The result of this game is that the blindfolded player will measure the severity of his "forfeits," or "penalties," to his certainty of guessing correctly the name of the player.

    Outdoor Sports and Games Claude H. Miller

  • The joke, utterly pointless as printed, becomes intelligible when it is explained that "forfeits" is an error for "propriety."

    The History of "Punch" M. H. Spielmann

  • Perhaps Don would even venture to play "forfeits" with her.

    The Man from Glengarry; a tale of the Ottawa Ralph Connor 1898

  • And, blackest feature of all, mistakes in any of these arduous matters entailed "forfeits," and the process entitled "paying the forfeits," meant a concentration of attention upon a young gentleman, conscious to agony of the fact that his trousers left his ankle-bones unshielded from the public gaze.

    Mount Music Martin Ross 1888

  • He was in for all the fun and frolic, and the kissing didn't worry him a bit when the "forfeits" were announced.

    A Little Girl in Old New York Amanda Minnie Douglas 1873

  • One he thought he recognized as a girl with whom he used to play "forfeits" in the vulgar past of his boyhood.

    Condensed Novels: New Burlesques Bret Harte 1869

  • Destroying the country and possibly the world kind of forfeits your opinion for at least a few months, if not ever.

    D-Day 2009

  • A judge who does this forfeits the presumption that he understands the issues involved.

    Darwin and Social Darwinism 2009

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  • In the Pickwick Papers, Mr. Wardle's replies to Mr. Pickwick regarding his family's Christmas Eve traditions: "...we wait, until the clock strikes twelve, to usher Christmas in, and beguile the time with forfeits and old stories.Trundle, my boy, rake up the fire."

    According to Standford's Discovering Dickens page:

    FORFEITS. - A pastime usually played by a number of persons of both sexes. The ordinary mode is to select some sentence, which each person of the party is to repeat without making a mistake, and in the event of his so doing, he has to forfeit to some person chosen for the purpose any trifling article, such as a card-case, smelling-bottle, fan ...

    June 19, 2020