A
- Alone
- A declaration made when calling trump that you'll play without your partner, who sits the hand out. Take all five tricks and you score 4 points. See going alone.
B
- Bower
- One of the two highest trumps. The right bower is the jack of trump; the left bower is the jack of the other suit of the same colour. See trump and card ranking.
C
- Call
- To make a suit trump, by ordering up the turned card in round one or naming a suit in round two.
D
- Dealer
- The player who deals. The deal passes to the left after every hand. When the turned card is taken up, the dealer adds it to their hand and discards a card.
- Defenders
- The side that did not name trump. Defenders score 2 points if they euchre the makers.
- Discard
- When the dealer takes the turned card, they hold six cards and put one of them face down, out of play for the hand.
E
- Eldest
- The player to the dealer’s left, who bids first and leads the first trick. Also called eldest hand.
- Euchre
- (1) The name of the game. (2) When the makers take fewer than three tricks: the defenders score 2 points.
F
- Farmer’s hand
- A hand with three or more nines and tens. Under a house rule, the player may swap them for the kitty.
- Follow suit
- Playing a card of the suit that was led, which you must do if you can. Not doing so when you could is a renege.
K
- Kitty
- The four cards left after the deal. Its top card is turned face up and offered as trump.
L
- Lead
- To play the first card of a trick. The leader may play any card.
- Left bower
- The jack of the suit of the same colour as trump, the second-highest trump. With hearts as trump, the jack of diamonds is the left bower, and counts as a heart.
- Loner
- A hand played alone. A loner that takes all five tricks scores 4 points. See going alone odds.
M
- Makers
- The side that named trump. They need three tricks to score.
- March
- Taking all five tricks in a hand. Worth 2 points, or 4 when going alone.
N
- Next
- Calling the suit of the same colour as the turned-down card in the second round. The left bower of that suit was the turned card’s jack, so if the dealer passed it, the bowers may be out there. See calling next by the numbers.
O
- Off-suit ace
- An ace of a suit that isn't trump. Valuable because it usually wins when its suit is led.
- Order up
- In round one, telling the dealer to take the turned card, which makes its suit trump. When the dealer's partner does it, it's traditionally called assisting.
P
- Partner
- Your teammate, sitting opposite you.
- Pass
- Declining to name trump. Under stick the dealer, if everyone else passes both rounds, the dealer must call.
- Pick it up
- What the dealer says when they take the turned card themselves in round one, making its suit trump.
R
- Renege
- Failing to follow suit when you could. At a kitchen table it is penalised, usually by giving the other side 2 points; here the table won't let you play an illegal card.
- Right bower
- The jack of trump: the highest card in the game, above even the ace of trump.
- Round
- One hand: the deal, the bidding, five tricks and the scoring. A game is a run of hands until one side reaches 10. Also used for each of the two rounds of bidding.
S
- Stick the dealer
- The rule, played here, that the dealer must name trump if everyone else passes in both rounds, so no hand is thrown in. See variants.
- Sweep
- Another word for a march: taking all five tricks.
T
- Trick
- One card from each player, or three cards when someone is alone. The highest trump wins it; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led does.
- Trump
- The suit named for the hand. Any trump beats any card of another suit. See trump and card ranking.
- Turned card
- The top card of the kitty, turned face up. Its suit is offered as trump in round one. Also called the up card.
V
- Void
- Holding no cards of a suit. When that suit is led you may play anything, including a trump.