Bridge terms, plainly explained.

A

ACOL

The natural bidding system used in the UK and Ireland, weak 1NT, 4-card majors.

Active vs passive defence

Attack to set up tricks, or sit back and give nothing away, read the hand to choose.

B

Balanced hand

No singleton or void, at most one doubleton, a flat shape.

A balanced 12–14 opens 1NT in ACOL even with a 5-card major, unless the major is very good (two of the ace, king and queen), then you open the suit.

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: A balanced 15‑17 opens 1NT even with a five-card major: on 5‑3‑3‑2 there is no second suit to rebid. With four cards in another suit, open the major instead.

Blackwood (4NT)

A 4NT bid asking partner how many Aces they hold, on the way to a slam.

Broken honours

An honour without a touching honour beside it (K-x-x, Q-x-x-x), or honours with a gap like A-Q or K-J, not a clean sequence.

D

Danger suit

The suit the opponents can run against you, the one to guard at trick one.

Declarer

The player who plays both their own hand and dummy.

Doubleton

Exactly two cards in a suit.

Drawing trumps

Leading trumps to remove the opponents’ trumps before cashing winners.

Ducking

Deliberately playing low and letting the opponents win, to keep control.

Dummy

Declarer's partner, whose cards are laid face-up on the table.

E

Encourage / discourage

Play high to say ‘continue this suit’; play low to say ‘switch’.

Entry

A card that lets you win a trick in a particular hand, so you can lead from it.

Establishing a suit

Forcing out the opponents’ high cards so your long suit’s small cards win.

F

Finesse

A play to win a trick with a card the opponents could have beaten, about half the time.

Forcing bid

A bid that partner is not allowed to pass.

Fourth-best

The lead of the 4th-highest card from your longest, strongest suit.

G

Game

A contract worth enough for the game bonus: 3NT, 4♥/4♠, or 5♣/5♦.

Game bonus

The reward for bidding and making a game-level contract.

H

High Card Points (HCP)

Ace 4, King 3, Queen 2, Jack 1. Every suit holds 10; the deck holds 40.

Hold-up play

Refusing to win an Ace for a round or two, to cut the defenders’ link.

J

Jump overcall (strong)

An overcall one level higher than needed, showing a good six-card suit and 15–16 points.

It becomes weak and pre-emptive at improver level.

L

Length points

Extra points for long suits. At Beginner they count only in your agreed trump suit.

Limit bid

A bid that shows your strength within narrow limits, partner may pass.

Loser

A trick the opponents can take, counted from your own hand in a suit contract.

M

Made / down

A contract is 'made' if declarer wins enough tricks, 'down' if it falls short.

Magic 8

The eight-card trump fit a partnership aims for, eight or more cards in one suit between the two hands.

Majors and minors

Majors are ♠ and ♥ (game at the 4-level); minors are ♦ and ♣ (game at the 5-level).

N

Non-vulnerable

The lower-stakes status: smaller bonuses, gentler penalties for going down.

O

Opening bid

The first real bid. In ACOL, open with about 12 or more HCP.

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: The first real bid. Open with about 12 or more HCP.

Opening lead

The first card played to a deal, by the defender on declarer’s left.

Overcall

A bid in a suit after an opponent has opened, describes your suit.

Overtrick

A trick won beyond what the contract required.

P

Part-score

A contract below game level.

Penalty double

A double that says ‘I think they’ll fail’, you defend for a bigger score.

Playing tricks

Tricks your hand should win on its own with its suit as trumps.

Prepared minor

A minor opening made because no natural opening fits, not because the suit is long, 3+ cards headed by an honour.

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: 1♦ always promises 4+ diamonds; 1♣ is the catch-all and can be as short as two.

R

Raise / support

Bidding partner’s suit higher, showing a fit (usually 4-card support).

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: Bidding partner’s suit higher, showing a fit (3-card support is enough for a major).

Rebid

The opener’s second bid, further describing their hand.

Redouble

A reply to a double showing real strength (10+ HCP, no fit).

Response / responder

The reply to partner’s opening bid; the replier is the responder.

Returning partner's suit

After winning a trick, leading back the suit partner first led.

Reverse

Opener's higher-ranking 2-level second suit, 16+. Not forcing over a 1-level response; game-forcing over a 2-level one.

Ruff

Playing a trump when you can't follow suit, to win the trick.

S

Second hand low

When declarer leads a small card and you’re second to play, usually play low.

Sequence

Three touching honours (e.g. K-Q-J), or a near-sequence like K-Q-10. Lead the top one.

Shape

How your 13 cards split between the suits (e.g. 4‑4‑3‑2).

Shortage points

Extra value for short suits when supporting partner’s trump suit.

Signal

A card played to send partner a message: high to encourage, low to discourage.

Singleton

A single card in a suit.

Slam

A contract for 12 tricks (small slam) or all 13 (grand slam).

Slam bonus

The large reward for bidding and making a small or grand slam.

Stayman

A 2♣ response to 1NT, or 3♣ over 2NT, asking opener for a 4-card major.

Stayman matters in ACOL because four-card majors can be opened 1NT and then found via 2♣; it hunts specifically for a 4‑4 major fit.

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: A 1NT opening can hold a four-card major, or, on 5‑3‑3‑2, a five-card one, and Stayman is how the partnership digs it out to find a major-suit fit.

Stopper

A card (or cards) that stops the opponents running a suit, e.g. an Ace or guarded King.

Strong 2♣ opening

An artificial opening showing a very powerful hand, forcing.

Suit opening

Opening 1 of a suit, showing about 12–19 points and (in ACOL) a 4+ card suit.

ACOL uses four-card majors: you may open 1♥ or 1♠ with just four cards in the suit. Systems with five-card majors require five.

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: Opening 1 of a suit, showing about 12+ points, a major promises five cards.

T

Take-out double

A double that asks partner to bid, rather than to defend.

Third hand high

When partner leads low and you’re third to play, play your highest card, but no higher than needed.

Trick

Four cards, one from each player in turn. A deal has 13 tricks.

Trump

The boss suit. Any trump beats any card of another suit.

Trump lead

Leading a trump to cut down declarer’s ruffs in dummy.

U

Unblocking

Playing a high card early so a suit can run without getting stuck.

Undertrick

A trick short of the contract, the contract fails and the other side scores.

V

Void

No cards at all in a suit.

Vulnerable

A status where bonuses are bigger but penalties for failing are steeper.

W

Weak No-Trump (1NT opening)

Open 1NT with 12–14 HCP and a balanced hand, unless you hold a very good 5-card major.

Some other systems use a strong no-trump (15‑17), which changes the responses.

In Strong No‑Trump and 5‑card majors: Open 1NT with 15–17 HCP and a balanced hand, a five-card major and no second suit is a 1NT hand too.

Winner

A trick you can take right now, without giving up the lead.

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