Mahjong Glossary
Mahjong Glossary of terms you'll need to play.
B
Bamboos
One of three suits in Mahjong, also known as bams or sticks.
Bonus Tiles
Flower or Season tile in Mahjong.
C
Characters
One of the three suits in Mahjong, also known as cracks.
Chow
A sequence of three tiles of consecutive ranks in one single suit.
Circles
One of the three suits in Mahjong, also known as coins or dots.
Concealed
Unexposed tiles drawn from the wall.
Crack
One of the three suits (see Characters above).
D
Dead Wall
A portion of a wall from which players are dealt replacement tiles.
Discard
A rejected tile which can be claimed by other players.
Dot
Another name for Circles (see above).
Double Wind
When a player's wind position is set corresponding to the prevailing wind (see below).
Dragon
A tile belonging to the honor tiles, a green, white or red dragon.
E
Exposed
A face-up tile which may be a part of a set or a discard.
F
Flower
One of the four bonus tiles displaying flowers.
G
Going Out
Another term for Going Mahjong (see above).
Going Mahjong
Declaring a hand worth eight points or more. Also known as Going Out.
H
Head
A pair of ties necessary to go out.
K
Kong
Four identical tiles.
M
Matching Chows
A pair of matching shows in different suits.
Meld
A set in Mahjong.
P
Pung
A set of three identical tiles.
R
Reversible
Tiles which appear the same inverted.
S
Stepped
Chows which are separated by one or two numbers.
T
Tile
The objects which form a Mahjong hand, similar to game cards.
W
Wall
Titles assembled face down at the beginning of a Mahjong game.
Wind
A tile belonging to the honor tiles showing a compass direction.
