\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}.