Glossary of Terms
Alone – Playing without the help of your partner
Bower – The jack of the trump suit or the jack of the same color as the trump suit in euchre.
- Left bower: the jack of the same color as the trump suit.
- Right bower: the jack of the trump suit.
Clubs - One of the four suits in a French suited pack of cards.
Deal - To distribute cards to players in accordance with the rules of the card game.
Diamonds - One of the four suits in a French suited pack of cards.
Discard – To remove a card from your hand of cards and return it to the deck.
Euchred – To not make at least three tricks when you have called trump, or it was dropped on you (stick the dealer) making you call trump. The other team receives two points.
Follow suit – To play a card of the led suit.
French suited pack - A pack of cards with the four suits: clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. So-called because it originated in France, but now used worldwide.
Guard - One or more cards that protect a high card. A high card may be singly guarded, twice guarded, etc.
Hand - The cards held by one player ("playing hand")
Hearts – One of the four suits in a French suited pack of cards
Lead - To play the first card of the trick.
Lone hand, lone player - A player who chooses to play without the help of his partner’s hand.
Low card - A card of low rank
Make Trump - Name the trump suit.
Misdeal - To make a mistake made in dealing cards e.g. dealing too few or many or facing a card during the deal.
Natural suit - The suit that a card would naturally belong to if not designated as e.g., a trump.
Opening lead - The first lead of a deal.
Overtake - To play a higher card than any previously played to the trick.
Overtrump - To play a trump higher than any previously played to the trick.
Pack - A complete set of cards. In English-speaking countries, a standard pack comprises 52 French suited cards.
Partner - Another player with whom one shares a common score, and with whom one therefore cooperates in bidding and play.
Pass - To not order trump or call trump. Usually called by saying "pass".
Plain suit - Any suit that is not a trump suit.
Play - To contribute a card to a trick. To move a card from the player’s hand. The card played. The stage of the game during which the players' hands are depleted by playing cards. The "rules of play" are the rules for playing tricks, etc. e.g., stating that players must follow suit if able, otherwise may play any card.
Point - May refer either to card points or to game points.
Rank - The position of a card relative to others in the same suit. The order of the ranks depends on which suit is called as trump.
Redeal - A new deal by the same dealer after an irregularity.
Regular pack - A pack of cards comprising suits each distinguished by a suit sign and divided into numeral and court cards. 52 cards with suits of hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace.
Renege – To play a card of a suit other than the led suit.
Rotation - The direction of dealing, bidding, and playing e.g., clockwise (to the left) is standard for American and English games.
Round - A series of hands in which each player has dealt only once.
Sandbag - To withhold an action on a good hand to trap an opponent into greater loss.
Short suit - When you discard a particular suit from your hand leaving you with none left in your hand for that suit.
Side suit - A suit that is not the trump suit, plain suit.
Solo - Player who plays a solo, without partner.
Spades - One of the four suits in a French pack of cards.
Stand - Accept the turned-up card by dealer as trump.
Suit - Any of the sets of cards in a pack that share the same pip symbol. For examples see French suited pack, German suited pack, and Latin suited pack.
Throw in - To return cards to the dealer if, for example, no-one makes a bid or if the cards are misdealt.
Trick - A set of cards played by each player in turn, during the play of a hand.
Trump - A privileged card whose trick-taking power is greater than any plain suit card. To play a trump after a plain suit has been led.
Turn-up - A card turned up at the start of a game to determine the trump suit.
Underlead - To lead a low card when holding the top card or cards in a suit.
Unguarded -Unprotected by another, usually lower, card of the same suit.