canasta
- Noun:
- A card game: "canasta" is a specific type of rummy card game, typically played by two to six players, using two standard decks of cards including four jokers. The primary objective is to score points by forming melds, which are sets of three or more cards of the same rank.
- Noun:
- We played a few hands of canasta after dinner.
- Learning the rules of canasta takes a little time, but it's a fun game.
"to go out in canasta": to end a round by getting rid of all the cards in one's hand, often after meeting specific conditions like having made a canasta.
- She was able to go out in canasta before anyone else could score more points.
"to freeze the discard pile in canasta": to make the pile of discarded cards temporarily unavailable for picking up, usually by discarding a wild card or a black three.
- He froze the discard pile to prevent his opponent from taking the needed cards.
Rummy (n): a family of card games to which canasta belongs, where the goal is to form sets or sequences of cards.
- Canasta is a more complex variant of rummy.
Meld (n/v): in card games like canasta, a meld is a combination of cards (a set or sequence) placed face-up on the table to score points.
- His first meld was three sevens.
- Card game: a game played with playing cards.
- Rummy game: a game from the rummy family.
(Note: As "canasta" is a specific proper noun for a game, it does not have phrasal verbs. Common phrases relate to gameplay actions.) - Make a canasta: to form a meld of seven or more cards of the same rank, which awards a significant bonus. - Making a natural canasta (without wild cards) gives you the most points.
- Pick up the discard pile: to take the entire pile of discarded cards into one's hand, which is a key strategic move in canasta under certain conditions.
- You can only pick up the discard pile if you can use the top card immediately in a meld.
(Note: There are no common idioms based solely on the word "canasta." Idioms would be related to card games in general.) - A stacked deck: a situation unfairly arranged in someone's favor (from card terminology). - It felt like a stacked deck; he won every hand of canasta.
- a form of rummy using two decks of cards and four jokers; jokers and deuces are wild; the object is to form groups of the same rank