Top

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Dreidle)

For other uses, see Top (disambiguation).

Image:Brailletop.jpg A top, or spinning top, is a children's toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. The top is one of the oldest recognizable toys found on archaeological sites. Besides toys, tops have also historically been used for gambling and prophecy. Some role-playing gamers still use tops to augment dice in generating randomized results. A thumbtack may also be made to spin on the same principles.

The action of a top relies on the gyroscopic effect for its operation. Typically the top will at first wobble until the shape of the tip and its interaction with the surface force it upright. After spinning upright for an extended period, the angular momentum, and therefore the gyroscopic effect, will gradually lessen, leading to ever increasing precession, finally causing the top to topple in a frequently violent last thrash.

1 Types of tops
- 1.1 Dreidel
- 1.2 Perinola
2 See also
3 External links

[edit]

Types of tops

Concertina top
Dreidel (also spelled "dradel", "dreidl", or "dreydl")
Dueling top
- Bei-goma
- Beyblade
Floating top
Gaming top
Perinola
Tippe top
Trumpo
Whipping top
Whistling top

[edit]

Dreidel

A dreidel (also spelled dreydel, dreydl, or dreidl) is a four-sided top, played within the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each side of it is bearing a letter: נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), ש (Shin), which stands as an acronym for "נס גדול היה שם" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham – "a great miracle happened there"). Nun means none, hei means half, gimel means all and shin means put in. In Israel, instead of ש (Shin), the letter פ (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle — "פה" (Po – "here").

Dreidel is also the name for a game played with a dreidel (see Hanukkah games: Dreidel and gelt).

[edit]

Perinola

A Perinola is a six-sided top, very similar to the dreidel, that is used for a similar game in most Latin American countries. Perinola is also the name of a stick and ball game.

[edit]