shuttlecock

A shuttlecock is a high-drag projectile used in the game of badminton. It has an open conical shape: the cone is shaped from sixteen overlapping goose feathers surrounded into a rounded cork base. The cork is covered with thin leather.

The shuttlecock's form makes it tremendously aerodynamically steady. Regardless of initial orientation, it will turn to fly cork first, and remain in the cork-first orientation.

The name shuttlecock is commonly shortened to shuttle; a shuttlecock may also be known as a bird or birdie. The abbreviation cock is rarely used except in a funny sense, due to its vulgar connotations. The "shuttle" part of the name was most likely derived from its back-and-forth movement during the game, similar to the shuttle of a loom; the "cock" part of the name was almost certainly derived from the likeness of the feathers to a bird's crest.