Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Japanese gambling game played on a vertical pinball machine.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A popular Japanese pinball game played on a vertical board.

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

  • noun A mechanical ball-dropping game similar to pinball, popular in Japan.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a Japanese pinball game played on a vertical board

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Japanese.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese パチンコ (pachinko), from pachin onomatopoiec sound + ko diminutive

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Examples

  • Environment in pachinko parlours was making me sick

    Japanese massage parlours 2008

  • Wynn holds about 24.5 million shares of his company, as does his partner, Japanese "pachinko" machine operator Kazuo Okada.

    Wynn Compensates For 'Picasso-gate' 2006

  • There were "pachinko" houses and arcades everywhere, all of which were packed, blasting music, and flashing ever more obnoxious lighting.

    TravelPod.com TravelStream™ — Recent Entries at TravelPod.com 2009

  • "pachinko" machines: think pinball machines, only completely vertical in orientation, with balls following a semi-random course through tiny metal pegs once they're dropped from the top of the board by the player.

    iLounge | All Things iPod, iPhone, iTunes and beyond 2009

  • "pachinko", a Japanese version of pinball played in thousands of noisy parlours across the country for prizes that can be exchanged for cash.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz 2008

  • Mr. Okada, chairman of pachinko maker Universal Entertainment and the largest shareholder of Wynn Resorts, filed suit in a Nevada state court this month alleging that he was blocked by Mr. Wynn from seeing the Las Vegas company's financial records after objecting to a $135 million donation by Wynn Resorts to the University of Macau.

    Construction Starts on Manila Casino Kate O'Keeffe 2012

  • If I had to make some recommendations, I would suggest, Crayon Physics Deluxe (a puzzle/physics game), Peggle (a pachinko/plinko type game that makes you feel productive) and Field Runners (a tower defense game).

    Bleep, Bleep. Bloop Bloop. Video Games. « Giant Killer Squid - Film, Comics, News, Reviews and more 2009

  • In the north, around Osaka Station and the major international hotels, is Kita, a nightlife hub centered on the Kita-Shinchi entertainment arcade, which pulsates with the noise and lights of snug drinking shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors and "girl" bars, where young female bartenders not only know how to fix a decent drink, but make amusing conversation as well.

    The Taste of Osaka's Hospitality Paul Baylis 2011

  • There was a pachinko parlor/casino where there was money, these coins, still in the trays where people had been playing and all of a sudden, had to evacuate, and the place just came apart, he said.

    Photographer Returns to Japan to Document Disaster’s Aftermath 2011

  • There was a pachinko parlor/casino where there was money, these coins, still in the trays where people had been playing and all of a sudden, had to evacuate, and the place just came apart, he said.

    Photographer Returns to Japan to Document Disaster’s Aftermath 2011

Comments

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  • Is this onomatopoeic?

    December 20, 2007

  • I think it is!

    December 21, 2007