dreidel

noun

1. A four-sided spinning top, inscribed with the four Hebrew letters נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hey), and ש (shin) (or פ (pey)) on each side, often used to play a traditional game during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

   “I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay. / And when it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.”

   “The dreidel is a spinning toy, painstakingly fashioned out of plastic polymer by Jewish craftsmen in Vietnam. Used for tabletop gambling games during Hanukkah, the dreidel often ends up on the floor and sometimes in the dog's small intestine.”

   “Erickson shared images on CNN iReport that show mixed holiday decorations in their Falmouth, Massachusetts, home, from a menorah and advent calendar to stockings bearing the phrase “shalom” and plates decorated with dreidels on a red plaid table cloth. […] Like the Kopelmans, they have a Christmas tree with dreidel ornaments and a menorah, which they light each night.”

   “Students from the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah School danced in dreidel costumes at a menorah lighting in Detroit on Thursday.”

2. A gambling game played using this top.

   “We do not spend our days huddled in smoke-filled rooms plotting world domination while Jared Kushner plays dreidel in the back with Noam Chomsky and George Soros sneaks the last latke.”