American mahjong glossary

13579: The card section built on odd numbers. More
2468: The card section built on even numbers. More
369: The card section built on the numbers 3, 6 and 9. More
Addition hands: A section on some years' cards where the numbers form a sum, such as 4 + 5 = 9. More
Any like numbers: A card section built on the same number in different suits, such as three kinds of 7. More
Bam: A tile from the bamboo suit, numbered 1 to 9. The 1 bam is usually drawn as a bird.
Betting: In a five-player game, the player sitting out may bet on who will win. Under the League's 2024 recommendation, if she is right the winner collects all payments and gives her half.
Big Card, The: An alternative yearly card of American hands published by The Mahjong Line. Not interchangeable with the League card.
Blank: A plain spare tile. Not used in the standard game, but it can replace a lost tile or become a joker with a sticker.
Blind pass: On the last pass of each Charleston, passing on tiles you just received without looking at them. More
Bonus: The jokerless double. It never applies to hands in the singles-and-pairs or Quints sections. More
Breaking the wall: East rolls the dice and counts that many stacks along their own wall to choose where dealing starts.
Calling: Claiming the latest discard, out of turn if needed, to complete a group or to win. More
Calling window: The time during which a discard can still be called: until the next player racks their picked tile or discards. More
Card: The yearly list of winning hands published by the National Mah Jongg League. More
Card folio: A hard case that holds the card upright at the table. More
Charleston: The series of tile swaps after the deal and before the first discard. More
Coins: Plastic chips used to pay winners, standing in for cents.
Concealed hand: A hand marked C on the card. It must be completed entirely on your rack; only the winning tile may be called. More
Consecutive run: A section of the card built on numbers in a row, such as 1-2-3 or 5-6-7.
Courtesy: Short for the courtesy pass. More
Courtesy pass: An optional swap of 0 to 3 tiles with the player across, after the Charleston. More
Crak: A tile from the character suit, marked with a Chinese numeral and 萬.
Dead hand: A hand that can no longer win, usually after a wrong exposure or a false Mah Jongg. Usually another player calls it dead; the player stops picking and discarding and still pays the winner. More
Dead tile: A tile no player can still use, for example because the other copies are already discarded or exposed.
Death challenge: Calling another player's hand dead. If the player denies it, the hand is checked at the end and whoever was wrong pays 50 cents. More
Dice: Two dice rolled by East to decide where to break the wall. After each hand they pass to the right. More
Discard: The tile you put face up in the middle at the end of your turn, naming it out loud.
Dogging: Playing defensively, discarding only safe tiles, usually because you cannot win. More
Dot: A tile from the circle suit. Also called a circle or ball.
Down is dead: Once a tile touches the table as a discard, its discarder cannot take it back. A discarded joker is dead to everyone. More
Dragon: One of the red, green or white honor tiles. Each matches a suit: red with craks, green with bams, white with dots. More
East: The dealer, who starts with 14 tiles and discards first. More
Exposed hand: A hand marked X on the card, which may include exposures.
Exposure: A group of tiles laid face up on your rack after calling a discard. Once you have discarded, it cannot be changed. More
Finesse: Holding a tile that can redeem a joker and using it to win, so the win counts as a self-pick and everyone pays double. More
First Charleston: The compulsory first round of passes: right, across, left. More
Flower: One of 8 tiles that all count as the same tile in American mahjong. Season tiles count as flowers too. More
Guided play: Practice games with a teacher on hand to help.
Hand: Your tiles: 13 during play, 14 when you win.
Heavenly hand: A winning hand dealt to East before the Charleston. East declares at once and everyone pays double. More
Hot tile: A tile likely to give another player Mah Jongg if you discard it.
Hot wall: A house or tournament rule that penalizes throwing a winning tile near the end of the wall. It is not a League rule. More
House rule: A rule your group adds or changes. Also called a table rule. Agree on them before you play.
Joker: A tile that can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more identical tiles, never in a pair or as a single. More
Joker exchange: On your turn, swapping a matching tile from your rack for a joker in any exposure. Also called redeeming a joker. More
Jokerless: A winning hand with no jokers. It doubles the payment, except for hands in the singles-and-pairs and Quints sections. More
Kong: A group of four identical tiles.
Large-print card: The bigger edition of the League's yearly card. More
Like numbers: A section of the card built on the same number in different suits.
Live discard: The latest discard, which can still be called. More
Mah Jongg: What you call when you complete a hand from the card and win. Also the League's spelling of the game's name.
Mah Jongg in error: Declaring a win when your hand is not complete. If you have not laid out your hand, you can take it back and keep playing; once it is laid out, your hand is dead. More
Mah Jongg Made Easy: The National Mah Jongg League's official rulebook.
Mahj: A common nickname for the game.
Mat: A cloth or neoprene cover that makes the table quieter and the tiles easier to move. More
Matching dragon: The dragon that goes with a suit: red with craks, green with bams, white (soap) with dots. More
Misnamed discard: A discard named as a different tile. If someone wanted the named tile to win, the discarder pays them four times the hand. More
Natural: Any tile that is not a joker. The League also says symbol tile. More
NEWS: North, East, West and South: one of each wind. More
NMJL: The National Mah Jongg League, founded in 1937, which publishes the yearly card and the American rules.
Open play: Drop-in tables for players who already know the game.
Opposite dragons: Dragons that do not match the suit they appear with. Written "opp. dragons" on the card. More
Pair: Two identical tiles. Jokers cannot be used in a pair.
Pay for the table: A penalty where one player pays the winner four times the hand and nobody else pays. More
Picking: Taking the next tile from the wall at the start of your turn.
Pivot: The first player to roll the dice. After each full round the Pivot swaps seats with the player on her right. More
Pung: A group of three identical tiles.
Pusher: The arm attached to a rack, used to push your wall forward. More
Pushing out the wall: Sliding your wall diagonally toward the center when the previous wall runs out, so players can reach it.
Quint: A group of five identical tiles. Needs jokers, except a quint of flowers.
Rack: The stand that holds your tiles out of sight of other players, with a ledge for exposures. More
Racking: Placing a picked tile on the sloping front of your rack. It closes the calling window on the previous discard. More
Redeem: Another word for a joker exchange: swapping your matching tile for a joker in an exposure. More
Redeemable tile: A tile that matches an exposure containing a joker, so it could be swapped for that joker. More
Reverse redeem: Putting your joker into someone's exposure to take a real tile. Not allowed. More
Safe tile: A discard unlikely to give anyone Mah Jongg, such as a joker or a tile nobody can use.
Same: What some players say when discarding a joker. Saying "joker" or repeating the previous tile is also fine. More
Second Charleston: The optional second round of passes: left, across, right. Any player can stop it before it starts. More
Self-pick: Winning by drawing your final tile from the wall yourself. Everyone pays double. More
Set: An American set has 152 playing tiles: 108 suit tiles, 16 winds, 12 dragons, 8 flowers and 8 jokers. Most sets add spares: extra jokers, blanks and sometimes extra flowers. More
Sextet: A group of six identical tiles. Needs jokers, except a sextet of flowers.
Siamese mahjong: A separate game, usually for two, in which each player manages two racks. It has its own rules and card.
Singles and pairs: A section of the card made only of single tiles and pairs. Jokers can never be used in it.
Soap: The white dragon. It can also stand for a zero in year hands. More
Suit: One of the three numbered tile families: bams, craks and dots, each numbered 1 to 9. More
Suitless: Belonging to no suit, like flowers, winds and the white dragon used as zero. More
Symbol tile: The League's term for a natural tile: anything that is not a joker.
Throwing in: Ending a hand by mixing your tiles into the middle. Wait until a Mah Jongg has been checked before you do. More
Tournament rules: Stricter rules set by each tournament, such as penalties for throwing to three exposures. More
Turn order: Players take turns to the right (counterclockwise), while tiles come off the wall to the left.
Wall: The rows of face-down tiles that players draw from: 19 stacks, two high, per player.
Wall game: A game where the wall runs out before anyone wins. Nobody pays. More
Wind: One of the North, East, West or South tiles. There are 16 in a set.
Window of opportunity: Another name for the calling window. More
Winds and dragons: The card section built on wind and dragon tiles. More
Wrong wall: A wall pushed out before its turn. A player who picks from it is dead. More
X and C: The marks on the card that say whether a hand may have exposures (X) or must stay concealed (C). More
Year hand: A hand on the card built from the digits of the year, with the soap standing in for zero.
Zero: The white dragon, used as 0 in year hands. It cannot be used in consecutive runs. More

Common questions

What is a pung in mahjong?

Three identical tiles. A kong is four, a quint is five and a sextet is six. Because there are only four of each suit tile, quints and sextets need jokers, unless they are made of flowers.

What does soap mean in mahjong?

Soap is the white dragon. It goes with the dots suit and is also used as a zero in year hands.

What is NEWS in mahjong?

North, East, West and South: one of each wind, written as NEWS on the card.

What is an exposure?

A group of tiles you have called from a discard and laid face up on your rack, so everyone can see it.

What is a hot tile?

A tile that is likely to give another player Mah Jongg if you discard it, judging from their exposures.

What is a dead hand?

A hand that can no longer win, for example because its exposures do not match any hand on the card. Usually another player calls it dead. The player then stops picking and discarding, and still pays the winner.