Every term I wished someone had defined for me when I first sat down at a mahjong table. Plain English, no jargon, in the voice of the friend you wish was at your elbow.
If you are brand new to American Mahjong, start with How to Play American Mahjong first, then come back here when you hit a word you do not know.
One of the three numbered suits in American Mahjong. Tiles show stylized bamboo stalks numbered 1 through 9. Players call them "Bams" at the table. The 1 Bam is a bird, not a single bamboo stalk.
See also: Crak (Character) · Dot (Circle)
In a five-person mahjong game, the bettor is the fifth player who sits out the hand and "bets" on which active player will win. Common in some social and home games. Not used in tournament play.
A tile with no marking. Modern American Mahjong sets typically include a few blank spare tiles in case one gets damaged or lost. They are not used in standard play.
A complete set of all eight Flower tiles, used in some specialty Singles and Pairs hands on the NMJL card. A bouquet hand requires holding all eight Flowers, which means tracking which Flowers other players have exposed or discarded.
To claim a discarded tile from another player to complete a group in your own hand. You must immediately expose the resulting pung, kong, or quint on your rack. Calling out of turn is allowed when you can complete a group.
The opening tile-passing ritual in American Mahjong. After you get your 13 tiles, you pass 3 unwanted tiles right, then across, then left, in that order. A second Charleston may follow if all players at the table agree. Jokers cannot be passed during the Charleston.
See also: Joker
A hand played without any exposures. You win by drawing the last tile yourself or claiming the final winning tile for mahjong. Concealed hands are worth more points than exposed hands on the same line of the card.
See also: Exposure · Mahjong (declaring)
One of the three numbered suits in American Mahjong. Tiles show Chinese characters numbered 1 through 9. Players call them "Craks" or sometimes "Characters" at the table.
See also: Bam (Bamboo) · Dot (Circle)
A hand that has been disqualified, usually by an illegal exposure, an illegal joker exchange, or naming a wrong winning tile. A dead hand cannot win that round. The player keeps the hand until the round ends but cannot collect.
See also: Exposure · Exchange (joker swap)
A tile you no longer want, placed face up in the middle of the table. Discarding signals the end of your turn. Once a tile is named or touches the table, it cannot be taken back.
See also: Call
One of the three numbered suits in American Mahjong. Tiles show circular dots numbered 1 through 9. Players call them "Dots" or sometimes "Circles" at the table.
See also: Bam (Bamboo) · Crak (Character)
Three non-suit tiles: the Red Dragon, the Green Dragon, and the White Dragon (also called Soap). On the 2026 card, the White Dragon counts as zero in the year section hands.
See also: NEWS
The four seat positions at a mahjong table. East deals and goes first. Seats rotate counter-clockwise after each round in most American Mahjong play.
See also: NEWS
Trading the natural tile for a joker in an exposure on the table. You can redeem a joker from any exposure, including your own rack, on your turn. The natural tile must be in your hand. Pick or call first, then do the exchange. If you exchange before picking, your hand is dead.
A group of tiles (pung, kong, or quint) face-up on the top of your rack, claimed from a discard. Exposures lock in part of your hand and signal to opponents what you are building.
One of eight special tiles in the set, used in hands that call for Flowers as a group. Flowers are not part of a numbered suit and do not compete with other hands' tile pools the way numbers do.
A rule a specific table or group agrees to use that is not in the official NMJL rules. House rules are not standard mahjong, just local convention. Always confirm them before the first hand if you are sitting at a new table. Common examples: capping the number of jokers per hand, no calls after a certain point in the wall, scrapping the second Charleston by default, paying double for self-picked wins, or letting a bettor sit in only when there are five players.
See also: Charleston · Joker · NMJL
A wild tile that can stand in for any tile inside a pung, kong, quint, or sextet. Jokers can never be used in singles or pairs. A discarded joker is dead and cannot be called by anyone for the rest of the hand.
See also: Exchange (joker swap) · Exposure · Pung · Kong · Quint · Pair · Single
A group of four identical tiles (four Bams, four 2-Dots, four of the same Dragon, and so on). Kongs are joker-eligible and earn more points than pungs.
The winning declaration. When your tiles complete a hand on the NMJL card, you call "mahjong" out loud and expose your hand for the table to verify. The NMJL spells the winning declaration "Mah Jongg" in their official bulletins. Lara's brand convention uses "mahjong" as one word.
See also: NMJL · Concealed hand
Shorthand for the four wind tiles: North, East, West, South. Hands on the Winds and Dragons section of the card often call for some combination of NEWS tiles.
See also: Dragon · East, South, West, North (seats)
The National Mah Jongg League. The New York based organization that publishes the official American Mahjong card each year. Their card is the standard for tournament play and most social American Mahjong games.
See also: House rule
A group of two identical tiles. Pairs cannot contain jokers. Singles and Pairs hands are the only NMJL category that excludes jokers entirely from the body of the hand.
A group of three identical tiles (three Bams, three of the same Dragon, three of any numbered tile). Pungs are the most flexible building block of mahjong hands. Jokers are legal in every pung.
The stick or arm used to push your wall of tiles forward into the center of the table at the start of each hand. Some racks have a built-in pusher attached to the back; others use a separate stick. The pusher is purely a practical tool, not a gameplay element.
A group of five identical tiles, used only in the Quints section of the card. Since there are only four of each tile in a set, every quint requires at least one joker.
The tile holder in front of each player. The rack keeps your 13 to 14 tiles standing up and hidden from opponents on the inside groove. The top edge holds exposed tiles after a call so the rest of the table can see what you have committed to. Most modern racks come with a separate pusher for sliding tiles forward and building the wall at the start of the game.
A category on the NMJL card. The 2026 card has nine sections: 2026, 2468, Any Like Numbers, Quints, Consecutive Run, 13579, Winds and Dragons, 369, and Singles and Pairs. Each section groups hands that share a structural pattern.
Winning mahjong by drawing the winning tile yourself from the wall, not by claiming a discard. A self-picked win pays double the value of the hand from every other player at the table. Joker exchanges that complete your hand also count as self-picked.
See also: Mahjong (declaring) · Exchange (joker swap)
A group of six identical tiles, used only in specific hands on the card. Like quints, sextets always require jokers because only four naturals exist per tile in the set.
A group of one tile, used only in Singles and Pairs hands. Singles cannot contain jokers. These hands are the highest-difficulty section of the card and pay the most points.
Nickname for the White Dragon tile. So named because the tile is plain white with a blue or black border, like a bar of soap. On the 2026 card, Soap counts as the digit zero in the 2026 year section hands.
See also: Dragon
A player who fills in for a regular at the table, usually for one night or one round of games. House rules vary on whether subs count toward bettor seats or scoring schemes, so confirm before the first hand.
See also: Bettor · House rule
The stacked tiles in the center of the table at the start of the game. Each player builds their own wall of 19 tiles, 2 high. The four walls form a square in the middle of the table. Tiles are drawn from the wall throughout the game.
See also: Rack
A nine-tile mahjong game popular at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. A variant of American mahjong with its own house rules. Not standard NMJL play.
See also: NMJL
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