Standard Lemma guide

pachinko

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • pə-chĭng'kō
  • /pəˈt͡ʃɪŋkəʊ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪŋkəʊ
  • CMU ARPABET: P AH0 CH IH1 NG K OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A mechanical ball-dropping game similar to pinball, popular in Japan.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To tumble down through a series of obstacles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a Japanese pinball game played on a vertical board

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pinball, pinball game

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese パチンコ (pachinko), from ぱちん (pachin, onomatopoeic sound of the machines) + こ (ko, diminutive). Compare etymology of gacha, from Japanese ガシャポン.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Cantonese: 波子機 /波子机 (bo1 zi2 gei1) — game
  • Chinese Mandarin: 彈珠機 /弹珠机 (dànzhūjī) — game
  • Chinese Mandarin: 柏青哥 (bǎiqīnggē or bóqīnggē) — game
  • Dutch: pachinko — game
  • Finnish: pachinko — game
  • Hindi: पाचिंको (pāciṅko) — game
  • Japanese: パチンコ (pachinko) — game
  • Korean: 파친코 (pachinko) — game
  • Marathi: पाचिन्को (pācinko) — game
  • Polish: pachinko — game
  • Russian: пати́нко (patínko) — game
  • Spanish: pachinko — game
  • Chinese Mandarin: 跌倒 (diēdǎo) — tumble down
  • Finnish: pomppia alas — tumble down
  • Polish: zawalać się — tumble down
  • Polish: zawalić się — tumble down