snookered

The description applied when a player cannot see a straight-line path between the cue ball and the ball that is “on”, because another ball that the player must not hit is obstructing the cue ball. This is called “being snookered”. A player must attempt to get out of a snooker by playing the cue ball off a cushion or cushions and hitting the target ball before any other ball. If they miss the on ball, a foul is awarded against them.