Fives

a game of handball in vogue in English schools. The name is taken from the five digits of the hand with which the ball is struck. In addition to hand-fives there is also the game of bat-fives. The game consists simply in throwing the ball against a wall and in striking it, not later than the first rebound, from the ground, against the wall, always above a certain line. The oftener this ball can be driven back to the wall before it is out of play, the greater the score. The game is perhaps the forerunner of tennis, from which it differs in that one plays with the wall for an opponent. Sometimes a fives court is built with three walls, two at right angles to the first, like the two sides and an end of a rectangle. One wall and three walls give rise to the terms open court and closed court respectively. The game is mentioned in Tom Brown at Rugby. It is a regular feature of the boys' schools of England.