| Auction | the process of bidding to the final contract, the bidding as a whole
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| Balanced | a hand that has no 5 card major, no singleton or void and not two doubletons
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| Bid | stating to win a certain number of tricks in a suit or no trumps
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| Call | any bid, double, redouble or pass
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| Cash | to play out a winning card
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| Claim | when a player lays down their hand, discloses their line of play and claims the remainder of the tricks
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| Concede | when a player lays down their hand and concedes the remainder of the tricks
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| Declarer | the person who first bid the suit named in the final contract
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| Defenders | the opponents or opposition of the Declarer
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| Discard | a card that is played when unable to follow suit, but not a trump card
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| Distributional Points | the shortage points awarded after a fit is found
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| Doubleton | having two cards only in a suit
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| Dummy | declarer’s partner, the person who places their hand, face up, on the table after the opening lead
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| Entries | cards used to transfer the lead from one hand to the other
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| Fit | when a partnership has 8 or more of a suit between the two hands
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| Finesse | an attempt to take an extra trick by leading towards a lower honour
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| Flat | same as Balanced
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| Forcing | a bid which a partner may not pass
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| Game | a level in the bidding, which gathers an extra bonus in points if the contract is made; 3NT, 4 H/S or 5 C/D
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| Grand Slam | bidding and winning all 13 tricks
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| HCP | High/Honour Card Points: Ace=4, King=3, Queen=2, Jack=1
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| Honour | a face card, i.e. Ace, King, Queen or Jack
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| Invitation | a bid that invites partner to game if they have the maximum of their point range
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| Jump/Jump Bid | a bid that is one level higher than is necessary
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| LHO | Left Hand Opponent
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| Light | when Declarer does not make the contract that they have bid, they have gone light; the number of tricks that they are short is the figure light they have gone
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| Major | the top two suits, Spades and Hearts
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| Minor | the bottom two suits, Clubs and Diamonds
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| Non-vulnerable (non-vul) | an arbitrary assignment that gives lesser points and penalties in scoring
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| Opening Leader | the person to the left of the Declarer who makes the opening lead
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| Opening Bidder | the person who first bids a suit or no trumps on each hand
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| Over Trick | trick(s) additional to the contract
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| Over Trump/Ruff | to play a higher trump over a ruff already played to the same trick
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| Part Game/Part Score | any contract short of game
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| Pre-empt(ive) | a bid that shows length rather than HCP for the purpose of stopping the opposition finding their ideal contract
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| Promote | to establish lower honours by forcing out the Opponent’s high cards
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| RHO | Right Hand Opponent
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| Rag | any lower (below the 10) card in a suit
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| Rebid | the second bid a player makes
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| Responder | the partner of the person making the opening bid
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| Response | a bid made in answer to partner’s bid
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| Revoke | a card played or led out of turn
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| Ruff | when a player cannot follow the led suit and plays a trump to take the trick (see Trump In)
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| Sequence | a run of two or more touching cards in the same suit
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| Sign Off | a bid which partner is expected to pass |
| Singleton | when a hand has only one card in a suit |
| Small Slam | bidding and winning twelve tricks
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| Slough and a Ruff | trump the led suit in one hand (ruff) and discard (slough) a different suit from the other i.e. when neither partner has the led suit
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| Stop/Stopper | cards that will win a trick in the Opponent’s suit |
| Total Points | the sum of High Card Points and Distributional Points, calculated after a fit is found
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| Trick | when all four players play once card each |
| Trump/Trump In | when a player is unable to follow the led suit and uses a trump to try to take the trick
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| Void | having zero cards in a suit in one hand
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| Vulnerable | an arbitrary assignment that gives more bonuses and penalties in scoring
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