Mahjongg Glossary
An A–Z reference of American Mah Jongg terms, tiles, and phrases. Jump to a letter below or click any term for a full explanation.
#
- 13579
- An NMJL card category built entirely from the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9.
- 152-Tile Set
- The standard count of tiles in an American Mah Jongg set: three suits of 1–9 (four of each), Winds, Dragons, Flowers, Seasons, and Jokers.
- 2468
- An NMJL card category built entirely from the even numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8.
- 369
- An NMJL card category built from the numbers 3, 6, and 9.
A
- Acrylic Tile
- A modern tile made of acrylic, prized for its clarity, weight, and durability compared to older tile materials.
- Addition Hand
- An NMJL card category where groups of tiles are arranged so their numbers add up to a target value.
- American Mah Jongg
- The variant of Mah Jongg played in the United States under NMJL rules, using the Charleston and an annually updated card.
- Any Like Numbers
- An NMJL card category where every set in the hand uses the same number, across different suits.
- Attack Hand
- Playing aggressively toward your own Mah Jongg, prioritizing speed over caution.
B
- Backup Hand
- A secondary pattern kept in mind in case your primary hand falls apart.
- Bam
- Short for "Bamboo" — one of the three numbered suits, numbered 1 through 9.
- Blind Pass
- Passing your incoming Charleston tiles back out again without looking at them.
- Blocking
- Deliberately holding or discarding tiles to slow down an opponent you suspect is close to Mah Jongg.
- Bone & Bamboo Tile
- An older style of tile, traditionally made with a bamboo back and a carved bone or ivory face.
- Breaking the Wall
- The moment East, guided by the dice roll, opens their wall so tiles can begin to be dealt.
- Building the Wall
- The setup step where each player stacks their tiles into a wall two tiles high in front of them.
C
- Called Tile
- A discarded tile claimed by another player to complete a Pung, Kong, or Quint.
- Calling
- Claiming a discarded tile to complete a Pung, Kong, or Quint, which must then be exposed.
- Calling Out an Error
- Speaking up when a mistake — such as a wrong tile count or a false Mah Jongg — happens during play.
- Calling Priority
- The rule that determines who may claim a discarded tile when more than one player wants it.
- Card Category
- One of the labeled sections on the NMJL card grouping similar hand patterns together, such as 2468 or Consecutive Run.
- Card Legend
- The key printed on the NMJL card explaining its abbreviations, symbols, and suit color-coding.
- Card Purchase
- Buying the current year's official NMJL card, required to play with that year's hands.
- Card Year
- The one-year period during which a specific NMJL card's hands are the official ones in play.
- Charleston
- The compulsory tile-passing exchange at the start of every hand, used to improve each player's tiles.
- Charleston Strategy
- The set of priorities — clearing space, choosing a direction, then committing — that guide what to pass and keep during the Charleston.
- Chinese Mahjong
- An older, related tile game from which American Mah Jongg descends, played with different scoring and no Charleston.
- Closed Hand
- A colloquial term for a hand kept fully concealed until Mah Jongg is declared.
- Committing to a Hand
- The point in play where a player narrows their tiles toward a single card pattern.
- Concealed Hand
- A hand kept entirely hidden until the winning tile completes it.
- Concealed Joker
- A Joker held inside a player's hidden hand rather than an exposed set.
- Concealed Kong
- A Kong completed entirely from tiles drawn into your hand, kept hidden rather than exposed.
- Concealed Pung
- A Pung completed entirely from tiles drawn into your hand, kept hidden rather than exposed.
- Concealed Requirement
- A card marking (often a "C") indicating a hand must be played entirely concealed to count.
- Concealed Set
- A matching group of tiles kept hidden in a player's hand rather than exposed on the table.
- Consecutive Run
- An NMJL card category built from tiles in numerical sequence, such as 4-5-6-7.
- Courtesy Pass
- An optional exchange of tiles between two players after the Charleston, by mutual agreement.
- Crak
- Short for "Character" — one of the three numbered suits, numbered 1 through 9.
D
- Dead Hand
- A hand that can no longer be completed under the current card, usually due to a tile shortage or a miscalculated call.
- Dead Tile
- A tile that can no longer help complete any hand you're realistically working toward.
- Dealer
- The player in the East seat for the current hand, responsible for starting play.
- Declaring Mah Jongg
- The act of announcing a completed, valid hand to end play.
- Defense
- Playing to avoid feeding opponents' hands, sometimes at the cost of your own progress.
- Dice
- Used at the start of the game to determine seating and who breaks the wall first.
- Discard Pile
- The growing collection of tiles thrown away by all players during a hand, visible to everyone at the table.
- Discard Speed
- How quickly a player discards after drawing — slow play can be considered a courtesy lapse at a social table.
- Discarding
- Placing an unwanted tile face-up in the middle of the table for others to see.
- Dot
- Short for "Circle" — one of the three numbered suits, numbered 1 through 9.
- Dragon Tile
- One of three honor tiles — Red, Green, and White (Soap) — collected for certain card hands.
- Draw
- Taking the next tile from the wall on your turn — another word for Picking.
E
- East Seat
- The dealer's position for the current hand; rotates to a new player after each hand.
- East Wind
- The Wind tile — and table position — that starts the hand.
- Etiquette
- The unwritten and written courtesies expected at the Mah Jongg table.
- Exchange
- Another word for the Charleston — the tile-passing ritual that opens every hand.
- Exposed Joker
- A Joker used inside an exposed set, visible and available for any player to swap out.
- Exposed Kong
- A Kong completed by calling a discard, and therefore shown face-up on the table.
- Exposed Pung
- A Pung completed by calling a discard, and therefore shown face-up on the table.
- Exposed Requirement
- The absence of a concealed marking on a hand, meaning it may be completed with exposed sets.
- Exposed Set
- A group of matching or Joker-substituted tiles laid face-up on the table.
- Exposure
- Any set of tiles a player has revealed on the table, either by calling or by choice.
F
- False Mah Jongg
- An incorrect Mah Jongg declaration — a hand that doesn't actually match any pattern on the card.
- First Charleston
- The mandatory first round of the Charleston — three full passes (right, across, left) that every player must complete.
- Flexibility
- Keeping tiles that could work toward more than one possible hand.
- Flower Tile
- A decorative honor tile, collected as its own small group on many NMJL hands.
G
- Grabbing
- Picking up the three tiles passed to you during a Charleston step.
- Green Dragon
- One of the three Dragon tiles.
H
- Hand Reading
- The overall skill of piecing together an opponent's likely hand from their exposures, discards, and passes.
- Hand Selection
- The strategic process of choosing which card pattern(s) to build toward, based on your starting tiles.
- High-Value Hand
- A hand pattern worth more points, typically because it's harder to complete — often Jokerless or concealed.
- Honor Tile
- A Wind or Dragon tile — the non-numbered "honor" tiles used for specific card categories.
- Host
- The player responsible for organizing a game session, often providing the table and card.
- Hot Tile
- A tile that appears to be exactly what an opponent needs, based on their exposures and discards.
J
- Joker
- A wild tile that can substitute for almost any tile in an exposed set.
- Joker Exchange
- Swapping a Joker out of an opponent's exposed set for the natural tile it represents.
- Joker Swap
- Another name for a Joker Exchange — trading the natural tile for a Joker in an exposed set.
- Jokerless Hand
- A hand pattern on the NMJL card that specifically forbids the use of Jokers.
K
L
- League Play
- Organized recurring play, often affiliated with or following NMJL conventions.
- Line
- One specific hand pattern printed on a row of the NMJL card.
- Live Wall
- The remaining, undrawn tiles in the wall as a hand progresses.
- Loaded Hand
- A hand holding several Jokers or strong pairs, giving it many ways to reach Mah Jongg.
- Loading a Hand
- Adding extra Jokers or flexible tiles to a hand beyond the minimum needed, to speed up completion.
- Low-Value Hand
- A hand pattern worth fewer points, typically easier or faster to complete with Jokers.
M
- Mah Jongg
- The winning call made when a player completes a valid hand from the current NMJL card.
- Mah Jongg (Spelling)
- The two-word, double-G spelling adopted by the NMJL as the official name of the American game.
- Mahjongg Club
- A regular group of players who meet to play American Mah Jongg socially.
- Mixed-Suit Hand
- A hand pattern that draws from more than one numbered suit.
- Muggins
- Calling out an opponent's mistake — such as a false Mah Jongg — during or after a hand.
N
- New Player Courtesy
- The patience and guidance experienced players extend to beginners still learning the flow of the game.
- NMJL
- The National Mah Jongg League — the organization that publishes the official American Mah Jongg card each year.
- NMJL Card
- The annual scorecard, published by the National Mah Jongg League, listing that year's official winning hands.
- North Wind
- One of the four Wind tiles, marking a seating position at the table.
- Number Tile
- Any tile from 1–9 in the Bam, Crak, or Dot suit.
O
- Open Hand
- A colloquial term for a hand built using exposed sets rather than staying fully concealed.
- Optional Pass
- Another name for the Second Charleston, since it only happens if every player agrees to it.
P
- Pair
- Two matching tiles held together, often the final piece needed for Mah Jongg.
- Passing
- The act of handing three unwanted tiles to another player during the Charleston.
- Passing Etiquette
- The courtesy of passing tiles promptly and without commentary during the Charleston.
- Picking
- Drawing the next tile from the wall on your turn.
- Point Value
- The score assigned to a completed hand, printed alongside its pattern on the NMJL card.
- Practice Hand
- A guided example hand used to rehearse decision-making outside of live play.
- Pung
- A set of three matching tiles, which may include a Joker.
- Pusher
- A small tool used to slide a row of tiles forward on the rack.
Q
- Quint
- A set of five matching tiles, only possible with the help of Jokers.
R
- Rack
- The plastic ledge each player uses to hold and hide their tiles.
- Rack Height Rule
- The convention that a rack's ledge should hide your tiles from other players' view.
- Reading Exposures
- Studying opponents' exposed sets to estimate which hand they're building and how close they are to Mah Jongg.
- Reading the Discards
- Tracking which tiles have already been thrown away to infer what opponents need or have given up on.
- Red Dragon
- One of the three Dragon tiles.
- Retained Tile
- A tile deliberately kept in hand rather than discarded or passed, usually because it supports your target pattern.
- Riichi Mahjong
- A modern Japanese variant of Mahjong with its own distinct rules, popular in competitive and online play.
- Rolling the Dice
- The setup step used to determine seating and where the wall is broken.
- Rotation
- The changing of the East (dealer) position from hand to hand over the course of play.
- Rotation of Host
- Sharing hosting duties among a regular group across sessions.
S
- Safe Tile
- A tile unlikely to help any opponent complete their hand, based on what's been exposed and discarded.
- Same-Suit Hand
- A hand pattern built entirely from one numbered suit.
- Sample Rack
- A photographed example rack, loaded with tiles, used in teaching materials to show a real hand in progress.
- Season Tile
- A decorative honor tile similar to Flowers, sometimes grouped with Flower-related card categories.
- Seating
- The arrangement of the four players around the table, each assigned a Wind position for the hand.
- Second Charleston
- The optional second round of the Charleston, played only if all four players agree to continue.
- Section
- A grouping of related lines under one card category, often sharing a suit requirement.
- Self-Drawn Tile
- A tile picked directly from the wall, as opposed to one claimed from another player's discard.
- Sextet
- A set of six matching tiles, only possible with the help of Jokers.
- Single
- One isolated tile required by certain NMJL hands, most often in Singles and Pairs patterns.
- Single-Suit Hand
- Another name for a Same-Suit Hand — every numbered set comes from one suit only.
- Singles and Pairs
- An NMJL card category made up entirely of lone tiles and pairs rather than Pungs or Kongs.
- SOAP
- Another name for the White Dragon
- South Wind
- One of the four Wind tiles, marking a seating position at the table.
- Sportsmanship
- Playing fairly, graciously, and patiently, win or lose.
- Standard Hand
- A hand pattern that appears on the card every year in some form, as opposed to a newly introduced one.
- Suit
- One of the three numbered tile families — Bam, Crak, and Dot — each running from 1 to 9.
- Suit Count
- Tracking how many tiles of each suit you're holding, used to decide which suit to commit to.
T
- Table Manners
- General courteous behavior at the table — patience, quiet during others' turns, and respectful play.
- Table Talk
- Conversation or commentary during play that could reveal information about a player's hand.
- Tile
- A single playing piece in Mah Jongg, one of 152 in a standard American set.
- Tile Count Tracking
- Keeping mental track of how many of a needed tile remain unseen in the wall or opponents' hands.
- Tile Efficiency
- Getting the most value from every tile kept, discarded, or passed.
- Tile Matching
- Identifying which tiles in your hand pair, group, or connect toward a target pattern.
- Tournament Play
- Competitive Mah Jongg play, typically following standardized rules and timing across multiple tables.
- Turn Order
- The counter-clockwise sequence in which players draw and discard during a hand.
- Twittering of the Sparrows
- Shuffling of the tiles before building the walls.
W
- Wall
- The stack of tiles built by each player at the start of the hand, drawn from during play.
- Wall Game
- A hand that ends with the wall exhausted and no player able to declare Mah Jongg.
- Wall Straightener
- A tool used to square up and straighten a built wall of tiles on the rack.
- Washing the Tiles
- Shuffling the tiles before building the wall.
- West Wind
- One of the four Wind tiles, marking a seating position at the table.
- White Dragon (Soap)
- The blank-faced Dragon tile, nicknamed "Soap" for its plain white appearance.
- Wind Chart
- The rotation chart used to track which player is East, South, West, and North across a full session of play.
- Wind Tile
- One of four honor tiles — East, South, West, and North — used for seating and certain card hands.
- Winds-Dragons
- An NMJL card category built from Wind and Dragon honor tiles rather than numbered suits.
- Winning Hand
- The completed, valid pattern a player holds when declaring Mah Jongg.
- Winning Tile
- The specific tile that completes a hand at the moment Mah Jongg is declared.
Y
- Year Hand
- A hand on the NMJL card that incorporates the current card year's digits, such as its date.