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checker

 [chek-er]   Origin

check·er

1   [chek-er]
noun
1.
a small, usually red or black disk of plastic or wood, used in playing checkers.
2.
checkers,
a.
Also called, British, draughts. (used with a singular verb) a game played by two persons, each with 12 playing pieces, on a checkerboard.
b.
(in a regenerative furnace) loosely stacked brickwork through which furnace gases and incoming air are passed in turn, so that the heat of the exhaust is absorbed and later transferred to the incoming air.
3.
a checkered pattern.
4.
one of the squares of a checkered pattern.
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verb (used with object)
5.
to mark like a checkerboard.
6.
to diversify in color; variegate.
7.
to diversify in character; subject to alternations: Sorrow and joy have checkered his life.

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Checker is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
to bark; yelp.
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Also, British, chequer.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English checker chessboard < Anglo-French escheker (by aphesis), equivalent to eschec check + -er -er2

Can be confused: draft, draught, draughts, drought (see pronunciation note at draught).
Dictionary.com Unabridged

check·er

2   [chek-er]
noun
1.
a person or thing that checks.
2.
a cashier, as in a supermarket or cafeteria.
3.
a person who checks coats, baggage, etc.
Origin:
1525–35; check1 + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To checker
Collins
World English Dictionary
checker1 (ˈtʃɛkə)
 
—n, —vb
1.  the usual US spelling of chequer
 
—n
2.  textiles a variant spelling of chequer
3.  (US), (Canadian) Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): draughtsman any one of the 12 flat thick discs used by each player in the game of checkers

checker2 (ˈtʃɛkə)
 
—n
1.  a cashier, esp in a supermarket
2.  an attendant in a cloakroom, left-luggage office, etc

chequer or (US) checker (ˈtʃɛkə)
 
—n
1.  any of the marbles, pegs, or other pieces used in the game of Chinese chequers
2.  a.  a pattern consisting of squares of different colours, textures, or materials
 b.  one of the squares in such a pattern
 
—vb
3.  to make irregular in colour or character; variegate
4.  to mark off with alternating squares of colour
 
[C13: chessboard, from Anglo-French escheker, from escheccheck]
 
checker or (US) checker
 
—n
 
—vb
 
[C13: chessboard, from Anglo-French escheker, from escheccheck]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

checker
early 14c., "a chessboard," aphetic of O.Fr. eschekier "chessboard," from M.L. scaccarium (see check). British prefers chequer, but the U.S. form is more authentic. Checkered "marked like a chessboard" is from late 15c.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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