"able whackets" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "able"
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      "expansion": "able",
      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "able seaman"
      },
      "expansion": "able seaman",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "whack"
      },
      "expansion": "whack",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Possibly from able, as in able seaman, and whack.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "p",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
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      "expansion": "able whackets pl (plural only)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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          "name": "English pluralia tantum",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nautical",
          "orig": "en:Nautical",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1905, John Masefield, Sea Life in Nelson's Time, section IV",
          "text": "The chief amusement or game in use in the midshipmen's berth, was ‘able whackets’, a pastime in which cards, blasphemy, and hard knocks were agreeably mingled.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 15",
          "text": "Instead of the usual sailors' games of cards and ablewhackets, there was the clicking of dice, with games of parcheesi unfolding on chequerboards of rope […].",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Blows on the hand from a knotted or twisted handkerchief, especially given as a punishment to the loser of certain card games."
      ],
      "id": "en-able_whackets-en-noun-clD4wYr5",
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "Blow",
          "blow"
        ],
        [
          "handkerchief",
          "handkerchief"
        ],
        [
          "card game",
          "card game"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical slang, now historical) Blows on the hand from a knotted or twisted handkerchief, especially given as a punishment to the loser of certain card games."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "abel-wackets"
        },
        {
          "word": "abelwhackets"
        },
        {
          "word": "ablewhackets"
        },
        {
          "word": "ablewackets"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical",
        "plural",
        "plural-only",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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  ],
  "word": "able whackets"
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{
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        "2": "able"
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      "expansion": "able",
      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "able seaman"
      },
      "expansion": "able seaman",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "whack"
      },
      "expansion": "whack",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Possibly from able, as in able seaman, and whack.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "p",
        "nolinkhead": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "able whackets pl (plural only)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Nautical"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1905, John Masefield, Sea Life in Nelson's Time, section IV",
          "text": "The chief amusement or game in use in the midshipmen's berth, was ‘able whackets’, a pastime in which cards, blasphemy, and hard knocks were agreeably mingled.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 15",
          "text": "Instead of the usual sailors' games of cards and ablewhackets, there was the clicking of dice, with games of parcheesi unfolding on chequerboards of rope […].",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Blows on the hand from a knotted or twisted handkerchief, especially given as a punishment to the loser of certain card games."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "Blow",
          "blow"
        ],
        [
          "handkerchief",
          "handkerchief"
        ],
        [
          "card game",
          "card game"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical slang, now historical) Blows on the hand from a knotted or twisted handkerchief, especially given as a punishment to the loser of certain card games."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical",
        "plural",
        "plural-only",
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      "tags": [
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "abel-wackets"
    },
    {
      "word": "abelwhackets"
    },
    {
      "word": "ablewhackets"
    },
    {
      "word": "ablewackets"
    }
  ],
  "word": "able whackets"
}