Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Jackstraw \Jack"straw`\, n.
   1. An effigy stuffed with straw; a scarecrow; hence, a man
      without property or influence. --Milton.

   2. One of a set of straws of strips of ivory, bone, wood,
      etc., for playing a child's game, the jackstraws being
      thrown confusedly together on a table, to be gathered up
      singly by a hooked instrument, without touching or
      disturbing the rest of the pile. See {Spilikin}.

Source : WordNet®

jackstraw
     n : a thin strip of wood used in playing the game of jackstraws
         [syn: {spillikin}]