The following is a

glossary A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Tradi ...

of terms used in dominoes. Besides the terms listed here, there are numerous regional or local slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, i.e. specific to one particular version of dominoes, but apply to a wide range of domino games. For glossaries that relate primarily to one game or family of similar games, see the relevant article.

A

; Ace : The end of a

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

marked with one spot. A 'one'.''Domino Glossary''
at domino-play.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020. ; arm : A single straight line of

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

within the

tableau Tableau (French for 'little table' literally, also used to mean 'picture'; tableaux or, rarely, tableaus) may refer to: Arts * ''Tableau'', a series of four paintings by Piet Mondrian titled ''Tableau I'' through to ''Tableau IV'' * ''Tableau viv ...

. McLeod specifies that it only has one

open end ''The David Susskind Show'' is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind which was broadcast from 1958 to 1986. The program began locally in New York City in 1958 as ''Open End,'' which referred to the fact that the program was open ...

B

; back : The broad surface of a

with no pips or

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. They may be entirely blank or have a design which is the same on every tile.''Glossary of Domino Terms''
at

pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been described ...

. Retrieved 26 December 2020. The reverse side of a

. ; banker : Also called the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, the person responsible, in a

banking game The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to Bridge (card game), Bridge, Hearts ...

for distributing chips, keeping track of the stakes and paying winners at the end. A dealer against whom the punters bet. ; banker's set : The 3–2 domino, so called because, if

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

in a scoring game, it cannot be scored on. ; bar : The line dividing the face of a tile into two halves. Also divider or centre line. ; bid : The number of points a player undertakes to achieve if they win the auction in bidding games. The winning bidder names trumps and leads. ; bidding game :

Game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

in which there is an auction where players bid the number of tricks they hope to take. The winning bidder announces

trumps A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...

and sets the first

; blank : A

half with no pips. Also

pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...

. ; block # To play a

whose

suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

an opponent cannot follow. # Alternative name for

. # Alternative name for a

block game The following is a partial list of games played with domino tiles or similar equipment. The most typical domino games are ''layout games'', i.e. games in which the players add matching tiles from their hand to a layout or tableau in the middle of ...

. # Alternative name for a

blocked game The following is a glossary of terms used in dominoes. Besides the terms listed here, there are numerous regional or local slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, i.e. specific to one particular version of dominoes, but ap ...

. ; block game : Domino game in which the aim is to play

to the layout in order to block opponents so that they cannot play. Unlike point games, block games are scored at the end of a round. ; blocked game : A situation in which no player is able to play or draw from the boneyard. ; blocking game : A

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

in which scores are calculated at the end of a

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

and not after individual plays. The aim is to block an adversary and be first to domino. ; bones : See

. ; boneyard : Pool of face down, spread (unstacked)

from which players draw. Also pool,

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

. ; bricks : See

. ; buy : See draw.

C

; card : Technical name for the pieces in a

domino set The following is a glossary of terms used in dominoes. Besides the terms listed here, there are numerous regional or local slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, i.e. specific to one particular version of dominoes, but ap ...

. See

. ; card game : Domino game in which the

are used like playing cards. ; centre line, center line, centre, center : See

. ; chip out : To play the last

of your

. ; count # The amount of gains at any stage of a game. # To reckon or score the game. ; Cribbage board : Scoring equipment comprising a wooden board with holes and pegs used for keeping score in Cribbage but also used for dominoes. ; cut suit: To play all of a

except the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

, leaving the player with the double unable to domino. ; cut in : To take turns in playing when five or more players want to participate in a four-hand game.

D

; deck : See

. ; Deuce : The end of

marked with two spots. A 'two'. ; divider, dividing line : See

. ; domino # To play all the

in a hand, usually ending play for the round. Hence 'dominoed' or 'dominoer'. # An individual piece in a

. According to John McLeod, however, this popular usage is incorrect. ; domino set : A complete batch of

, each one occurring exactly once, that is used to play one or more

domino games Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

. Sets vary in size; for example, a double-six set has 28 tiles and a double-eight set has 45 tiles. Also deck or pack. ; dominoes : Plural of domino. "Dominos" is incorrect. ; door : Last unplayed

of a

(whose play closes the door). ; dot : See pip. ; double, doublet, double domino : A

on which both ends have the same pip value e.g. a tile with two sixes is a "double six". ; double-six dominoes, double-six set, double 6s, double six :

Domino set The following is a glossary of terms used in dominoes. Besides the terms listed here, there are numerous regional or local slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, i.e. specific to one particular version of dominoes, but ap ...

made up of 28

with all the combinations from 0 to 6. ; double-eight dominoes, double-eight set, double 8s, double eight :

, common in Austria, made up of 45

with all the combinations from 0 to 8. ; double-nine dominoes, double-nine set, double 9s, double nine :

made up of 55

with all the combinations from 0 to 9. ; double-twelve dominoes, double-twelve set, double 12s, double twelve :

made up of 91

with all the combinations from 0 to 12. ; double-fifteen dominoes, double-fifteenset, double 15s, double fifteen :

made up of 136

with all the combinations from 0 to 15. ; doubles game : A four-handed, partnership game. ; doublet : See

. ; draw : To transfer a

from the boneyard to the

. ; draw game : Domino game in which players draw

from the boneyard during play, but only score at the end of the round.

E

; end # One of the two sides on the face of a

, divided by the central dividing line, that is marked with a

. # The surface of a

furthest from the centre, a tile having two ends, two sides a face and a back. # That half of a tile in a line of tiles that may be played upon (also "open end"). ; exposed tile :

Tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

that has been turned face up by mistake, usually incurring a penalty.

F

; face : The broad surface of a

that displays the pips and

. ; following domino : Any

that plays or scores after a previous score.

G

; game # A session at dominoes played between two or more players to a given set of rules. # A series of

hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...

resulting in a player or partnership making a winning score. See also round,

and

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

. ; go domino : See go out. ; go out : To be first to play one's last remaining

in a matching or scoring game.

H

; hand # The set of

that belong to each player, not usually held in the hand, but placed on edge on the table facing him or her.''Glossary of Domino Terms''
at domino-games.com. Retrieved 26 December 2020. # The cycle of rounds played with those tiles as part of a game. See also round,

. # Same as round. ; head : The best

piece Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game for the Super NES * P ...

in a player's

. ; heavy : High-numbered. A 'heavy'

or tile end is one with a high number of pips. The half of a tile with the greater number of pips is the heavy end. Some games start with the player who holds the heaviest tile setting it first. ; hit the deck : To be forced to draw from the boneyard (aka deck) because you have no playable

J

; jam : To play the last

of a

and leave that suit exposed at all

ends End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: **End (category theory) **End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron football) ...

of the

, thus blocking the game.

K

; kicker : In scoring games, a domino that will score 1 point more than the previous play. These are all the 5s and the 6-1. ; knock : See

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...

L

; lay piece : A

that is not of the

trump suit A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''trum ...

. ; lay suit : A

that is not

. ; layout : See

. ; lead # The first play made by the player who is on set. # The player who directs the play for his team. # The first

played in a given

. ; leader # Player who sets the first

. # A

played in a matching or scoring game when a player has no matching

in his

. ; light : Low-numbered. A 'light'

or tile end is one with a low number of pips. The half of a tile with the fewer pips is the lighter end. Some games start with the player holding the lightest tile leading. ; lighthouse : A

in the

with no matching tiles in the same hand. Played first it is a "lighthouse set". ; line : A layout that has two open ends, as opposed to an arm which only has one. ; line of play : An arm or

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

which is open for play. Dominoes may be joined to it ''with'' the line of play or ''across'' the line of play.

M

; make, make the dominoes. : See shuffle. ; make domino : See go out. ; man overboard : Said when a player has no matching

and is forced to hit the deck i.e. draw from the boneyard. ; match # Series of

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

needed for a player or team to win. See also round,

, and

. # To play a

such that adjacent

have the same

spot Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (produ ...

value. ; matching game : A

in which players must play a

, one end of which matches an

of the

. ; men : See

. ; misdraw : To under- or overdraw the number of

pieces Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game for the Super NES * P ...

to which you are entitled.

O

; off set # To be forced to draw when on set, thus going off set. ; on set # To be first to play. # To be first in the order or play to go out. ; open end : The end of a layout not connected to any other

. Subsequently played tiles may only be placed on this end. ; orphan : Seventh

of a given

left in a player's

that cannot be played because all matching

have been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

. ; overdraw : To draw more than the specified number of bones for one's

or draw from the boneyard when able to play, which is normally illegal.

P

; pack : See

. ; pale : See blank. ; partie : A session of dominoes equivalent comprising a series of

. ; partner : The one joined with you in playing against your opponents. ; pass : To forgo playing because one does not have a playable

and is unable to draw. Also knocking or renouncing. ; peg # The pin or marker used to score, usually on a cribbage board. Also spilikin. # To score e.g. "pegging five". ; pieces : See

. ; pigeon : A rookie player who loses easily. ; pile : See boneyard. ; pips : The dots on the face of a

. Also spots. ; point game : Domino game where players score points as they go and not at the end of a round as in block games or draw games. ; pool # The stakes. # The dish or container for such stakes. # Alternative name for the boneyard. ; pose : To play the first

that begins the layout at the start of a

. Also

. ; president : The player in a position to go out first.

R

; renege : To fail to play when able and required by the rules of the

. ; renounce : See

. ; repeater : A

that will score the same as the previous play. ; reserve : See boneyard. ; revoke : To play the wrong suit. ; rocks : See

. ; round : Cycle of play during a

in which each player places a

on the table, draws from the boneyard, passes or performs some other action when it is his turn. See also

and

. ; round game :

in which every player plays for himself or herself. ; row : A line of

placed face up and side to side on the table. See also

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

. ; rubber : The best two of three games.

S

; scoring game : A

in which players score during play as well as at the end of a

. ; second set : The player who is in position to go out second. ; set # To place a

on the table. # The first

of the

played. Also

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

. # A player who does not make his bid has been 'set'. ; shuffle : To randomly rearrange or mix up the face-down

at the start of a round and before the players pick up their

. ; side # One of the two teams in a partnership

. # One of the two longer edges of a

; as opposed to the two

, the face or the back. ; singles, singles domino, single domino : A

with different ends i.e. not a

doublet Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much",

References

Literature

* * * * * * * * *

External links

''Domino Glossary''
at domino-play.com.

at domino-games.com.

at

.
''Glossary of Domino Terms''
at dominorules.com (copy of those by Kelley). {{Domino games

Domino terms The following is a glossary of terms used in dominoes. Besides the terms listed here, there are numerous regional or local slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, i.e. specific to one particular version of dominoes, but a ...

Glossary