Mor"ris (?), n. [So called from its
discoverer.] (Zoöl.) A marine fish having a very
slender, flat, transparent body. It is now generally believed to be
the young of the conger eel or some allied fish.
Mor"ris (?), n. [Sp. morisco
Moorish, fr. Moro a Moor: cf. F. moresque, It.
moresca.] 1. A Moorish dance, usually
performed by a single dancer, who accompanies the dance with
castanets.
2. A dance formerly common in England, often
performed in pagenats, processions, and May games. The dancers,
grotesquely dressed and ornamented, took the parts of Robin Hood,
Maidmarian, and other fictitious characters.
3. An old game played with counters, or men,
which are placed at the angles of a figure drawn on a board or on the
ground; also, the board or ground on which the game is
played.
The nine-men's morris is filled up with
mud.
Shak.
☞ The figure consists of three concentric squares, with lines
from the angles of the outer one to those of the inner, and from the
middle of each side of the outer square to that of the inner. The
game is played by two persons with nine or twelve pieces each (hence
called nine-men's morris or twelve-men's morris). The
pieces are placed alternately, and each player endeavors to prevent
his opponent from making a straight row of three. Should either
succeed in making a row, he may take up one of his opponent's pieces,
and he who takes off all of his opponent's pieces wins the game.