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 fictious characters.
3. An old game played with counters, or men, which are placed
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.
Note: 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.