Mahjong Glossary

Every mahjong word used on Meldhouse, explained in plain English. Where a term belongs to one style, it's labelled American, Chinese or Japanese. In our guides, words with a dotted underline open their definition when you tap them.

On this page

B

Bams: Also: Bamboos, Sticks, Sou; One of the three suits, drawn as bamboo sticks. The 1 of bams is usually a bird instead of a single stick.
Blind passAmerican: In the Charleston, passing on tiles you've just been handed without looking at them, instead of tiles from your own hand. Allowed only on certain passes.
Break the wall: Choosing where in the wall to start dealing, usually by rolling dice. The tiles are dealt from that gap.

C

Call: Also: Claim; Taking a tile another player has just discarded, to complete a set or to win. You say the name of the set, such as "pung", and lay the set face up.
CharlestonAmerican: The tile swap at the start of an American mahjong hand. Everyone passes three unwanted tiles right, then across, then left, and may agree to a second round and a final courtesy pass.
ChowChinese: Also: Chi, Run, Sequence; Three tiles in a row in the same suit, such as 4-5-6 of dots. Used in Chinese and Japanese mahjong, not in American mahjong. You can call a chow only from the player on your left.
Concealed: Tiles or sets you keep hidden on your rack, made only from tiles you drew yourself. Many scoring rules reward a fully concealed hand.
Courtesy passAmerican: The optional last step of the Charleston: you and the player across from you agree to swap none, one, two or three tiles.
Craks: Also: Characters, Cracks, Man, Wan; One of the three suits. Each tile shows a Chinese number above the character for ten thousand.

D

Dead handAmerican: A hand that can no longer win, for example because it has the wrong number of tiles or its exposures can't match any hand on the card. The player stops trying to win but stays in the game.
Dead wallJapanese: A section of the wall set aside and not drawn from in normal play. It supplies replacement tiles after a kong and shows the bonus (dora) indicator in Japanese mahjong.
Dealer: Also: East; The player who starts the hand with 14 tiles and discards first. The dealer always sits in the East seat.
Discard: The tile you give up at the end of your turn, placed face up in the middle of the table and named out loud.
DoraJapanese: Bonus tiles in Japanese mahjong. Each dora in your winning hand adds value, but dora alone can't make a hand a winner.
Dots: Also: Circles, Coins, Pin; One of the three suits, drawn as circles.
Dragons: Three honor tiles: Red, Green and White, four of each. In American mahjong each dragon is paired with a suit, and the White Dragon is called Soap.

E

Exposure: Also: Exposed set, Meld; A set you have laid face up on your rack, usually after calling a discard. Exposed sets can't be changed later.

F

FaanChinese: Also: Fan; The scoring unit in Hong Kong mahjong. Each feature of a winning hand is worth a number of faan, and the total sets how much the hand is paid.
Flowers: Bonus tiles. Chinese sets have four flowers and four seasons, which you set aside when drawn and replace. American sets have eight flowers, which are used in hands like any other tile.

H

Hand: Two meanings: the tiles you hold, and one complete round of play from the deal until someone wins or the wall runs out.
Honor tiles: Also: Honours; The winds and dragons. They have no numbers, so they can form pungs and kongs but never runs.

J

JokerAmerican: A wild tile in American mahjong. It can stand in for any tile in a group of three or more identical tiles, but never in a pair or as a single tile. Jokers can't be passed in the Charleston.
Joker exchangeAmerican: Also: Joker swap; On your turn, swapping a real tile from your hand for a joker in any player's exposure, when your tile is the one the joker stands for.

K

Kong: Also: Kang, Kan; Four identical tiles. In Chinese and Japanese mahjong, a kong counts as one set and you draw a replacement tile after making it.

M

Mahjong!: Also: Going out; What you call when your hand is complete and you win. The word is also the name of the game.

P

Pair: Also: Eyes; Two identical tiles. A standard Chinese or Japanese winning hand is four sets and one pair.
Prevailing windChinese: Also: Round wind; The wind of the current round. The game starts in the East round; a pung of the prevailing wind scores extra in Chinese and Japanese mahjong.
Pung: Also: Pong, Pon; Three identical tiles, such as three 7 Bams or three Red Dragons. You can call a pung from any player's discard.

Q

QuintAmerican: Five identical tiles in American mahjong. Because a set has only four of each tile, a quint always needs at least one joker (or flowers).

R

RackAmerican: The long stand in front of each player that holds their tiles. In American mahjong, racks also hold the wall and your exposures.
Ready: Also: Waiting, Fishing, Tenpai; One tile away from winning.
RiichiJapanese: In Japanese mahjong, declaring that your concealed hand is one tile from winning, with a small bet. After that you can't change your hand.

S

Seat windChinese: Also: Own wind; The wind of your seat for the current hand: East for the dealer, then South, West and North going round the table to the right.
Self-drawn: Also: Self-pick, Tsumo; Winning with a tile you drew from the wall yourself, rather than one someone discarded. Most scoring systems pay extra for it.
Set: Also: Group, Meld; A group of tiles that counts toward a winning hand: a pung, a kong, a chow, or in American mahjong a quint or sextet.
SoapAmerican: The American name for the White Dragon, which in American sets is drawn as a frame, often blue. On the card it can also stand for zero.
Suits: The three families of numbered tiles: dots, bams and craks, each numbered 1 to 9 with four copies of every tile.

T

The cardAmerican: Also: NMJL card, Mahjong card; The list of winning hands for American mahjong, published each year by the National Mah Jongg League. Every player needs the current year's card.

W

Wall: The face-down tiles stacked two high in a square in the middle of the table. Everyone draws from it in turn.
Wall game: Also: Draw, Washout; A hand where the wall runs out before anyone wins. No one is paid, and a new hand is dealt.
Winds: Four honor tiles: East, South, West and North, four of each. Each seat at the table is also named after a wind.

Y

YakuJapanese: A scoring pattern in Japanese mahjong. Your winning hand must contain at least one yaku, or it can't win.

Ready to put the words to use? Start with how to play mahjong, see every tile in the tile guide, print the cheat sheet, or go back to the beginner's hub.