Glossary of bridge terms
Auction | the process of bidding to the final contract, the bidding as a whole |
Balanced | a hand that has no 5 card major, no singleton or void and not two doubletons |
Bid | stating to win a certain number of tricks in a suit or no trumps |
Call | any bid, double, redouble or pass |
Cash | to play out a winning card |
Claim | when a player lays down their hand, discloses their line of play and claims the remainder of the tricks |
Concede | when a player lays down their hand and concedes the remainder of the tricks |
Declarer | the person who first bid the suit named in the final contract |
Defenders | the opponents or opposition of the Declarer |
Discard | a card that is played when unable to follow suit, but not a trump card |
Distributional Points | the shortage points awarded after a fit is found |
Doubleton | having two cards only in a suit |
Dummy | declarer’s partner, the person who places their hand, face up, on the table after the opening lead |
Entries | cards used to transfer the lead from one hand to the other |
Fit | when a partnership has 8 or more of a suit between the two hands |
Finesse | an attempt to take an extra trick by leading towards a lower honour |
Flat | same as Balanced |
Forcing | a bid which a partner may not pass |
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 |
Grand Slam | bidding and winning all 13 tricks |
HCP | High/Honour Card Points: Ace=4, King=3, Queen=2, Jack=1 |
Honour | a face card, i.e. Ace, King, Queen or Jack |
Invitation | a bid that invites partner to game if they have the maximum of their point range |
Jump/Jump Bid | a bid that is one level higher than is necessary |
LHO | Left Hand Opponent |
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 |
Major | the top two suits, Spades and Hearts |
Minor | the bottom two suits, Clubs and Diamonds |
Non-vulnerable (non-vul) | an arbitrary assignment that gives lesser points and penalties in scoring |
Opening Leader | the person to the left of the Declarer who makes the opening lead |
Opening Bidder | the person who first bids a suit or no trumps on each hand |
Over Trick | trick(s) additional to the contract |
Over Trump/Ruff | to play a higher trump over a ruff already played to the same trick |
Part Game/Part Score | any contract short of game |
Pre-empt(ive) | a bid that shows length rather than HCP for the purpose of stopping the opposition finding their ideal contract |
Promote | to establish lower honours by forcing out the Opponent’s high cards |
RHO | Right Hand Opponent |
Rag | any lower (below the 10) card in a suit |
Rebid | the second bid a player makes |
Responder | the partner of the person making the opening bid |
Response | a bid made in answer to partner’s bid |
Revoke | a card played or led out of turn |
Ruff | when a player cannot follow the led suit and plays a trump to take the trick (see Trump In) |
Sequence | a run of two or more touching cards in the same suit |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Void | having zero cards in a suit in one hand |
Vulnerable | an arbitrary assignment that gives more bonuses and penalties in scoring |