Whist Glossary — What Every Term Means

The most common Whist terms and what they mean at the table, ordered by how often you will hear them.

Trick: One round of four cards, one from each player, won by the highest trump or the highest card of the suit led. A hand has 13 tricks.
Trump: The suit named by the dealer's flipped card. Any trump beats every card of the other three suits; between trumps the higher rank wins.
The flip: The last card dealt, the dealer's 13th, turned face up to set trumps for the hand. The dealer picks it up when first playing to a trick.
Odd tricks: The tricks a side wins beyond the first six. Each odd trick scores 1 point, so a 9–4 hand scores 3 points.
Eldest hand: The player to the dealer's left, who leads to the first trick.
Follow suit: The obligation to play a card of the suit led when you hold one. Only players void in the led suit may play off-suit.
Ruffing (trumping): Playing a trump on a trick led in another suit because you are void in the led suit — the ruff wins unless a higher trump is played.
Discarding (sloughing): Throwing a card of a third suit when void and choosing not to ruff — usually your shortest suit's lowest card.
Lead: The first card played to a trick. Any card may be led in Whist, including trumps, and the previous trick's winner leads next.
Partnership: The fixed 2-vs-2 team: seats opposite each other play together, and their tricks are pooled for scoring.
Book: The first six tricks of a hand, which score nothing. Scoring starts at the seventh trick.
Honours: An optional traditional bonus for holding three or four of the top trumps (A K Q J). Not used on this site.

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