Rummy Glossary
Every rummy game leans on the same handful of words: meld, set, run, deadwood. Once you know them, the rules for any variant read like plain English. This glossary defines the terms you will meet across the whole rummy family, from Gin Rummy and Tonk to the deeper corners of Canasta and Contract Rummy.
If you are brand new, skim this page before the rules. You do not need to memorize anything - just get a feel for the vocabulary, then read the full rummy rules or the FAQ and the words will already make sense. Each term below has its own link, so other pages can point straight to a definition.
💡 Tip: Learn the four core terms first - meld, set, run, and deadwood. Almost every rule you read is built from those four ideas.
Core terms
Deck
A full set of 52 playing cards in four suits. Basic Rummy and Gin Rummy use one deck; two-deck games such as Canasta, Kalooki and Indian Rummy shuffle 104 cards together, usually with added jokers.
Suit
One of the four card families - hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. A run must be built within a single suit, while a set is always one rank spread across different suits.
Rank
A card's value, from Ace through 2 to 10, then Jack, Queen and King. Sets match cards of equal rank; runs link cards of consecutive rank inside one suit.
Pip value
The point value of a card, used to score deadwood and melds. Number cards score their face value, face cards usually count 10, and the Ace counts 1 - though high-ace games can score it 11 or 15.
Hand
The cards a player holds. Hand size changes by game - five in Tonk, ten in Gin Rummy, thirteen in Indian Rummy, and fifteen in Canasta.
Stock (stockpile)
The face-down pile of undealt cards you draw an unknown card from. When it runs out, the discard pile is usually shuffled to form a fresh stock so play can continue.
Boneyard
Another name for the stock, the face-down draw pile, used especially in Indian Rummy and other two-deck games. When the boneyard empties, the discards are reshuffled to refill it.
Discard pile
The face-up pile where each player throws one unwanted card to end their turn. In many games you may draw the top discard instead of the stock; in Rummy 500 you may scoop several cards from it at once.
Upcard
The single card turned face up at the start of a hand to begin the discard pile. In Oklahoma Gin the value of the upcard sets the maximum deadwood you may knock with for that hand.
Melds and combinations
Meld
Any valid combination of cards laid down as a unit - a set or a run. Building your hand into melds is the object of every rummy game, and a card can belong to only one meld at a time.
Set (group / book)
Three or four cards of the same rank in different suits, such as three Queens. Also called a group or a book. A set can never contain two cards of the same suit.
Run (sequence)
Three or more consecutive cards in the same suit, such as the 4-5-6 of spades. Also called a sequence. In most games the Ace is low, so runs do not wrap around from King to Ace.
Sequence
Another word for a run - three or more cards of one suit in consecutive order. The term is standard in Indian Rummy, where a valid declaration must contain at least one sequence.
Pure sequence (natural run)
A run built with real cards only, using no joker or wild card, such as the 7-8-9 of hearts. Indian Rummy requires at least one pure sequence before you are allowed to declare.
Impure sequence
A run completed with the help of a joker or wild card standing in for a missing card, such as 5-joker-7 of clubs. It counts as a sequence but not as a pure one.
Natural card
A real card playing as itself, as opposed to a joker or wild card. A meld made only of natural cards is described as natural or pure and often scores a bonus.
Wild card
A card that can stand in for any rank or suit to complete a meld. Jokers are wild everywhere; several games also make the 2s, or deuces, wild.
Joker
A wild card that substitutes for any card a set or run needs. Two-deck games such as Kalooki and Canasta add printed jokers, and Indian Rummy also picks a random rank to act as a wild joker.
Deuce (wild deuce)
The 2, used as a wild card in games such as Canasta and Dummy Rummy. A wild deuce can replace a missing card but usually may not outnumber the natural cards in a meld.
Lay off
Adding a card from your hand to a meld already on the table - yours or an opponent's - such as placing the 8 of clubs onto an existing 5-6-7 of clubs. It sheds cards without starting a new meld.
Spread
To lay your melds face up on the table. Spreading is how you commit sets and runs to the board so that you, and sometimes your opponents, can lay off onto them.
Ending the hand
Going out
Melding your entire hand and making a final discard to end the deal. The player who goes out wins the hand and leaves opponents to count their unmelded cards as penalty points.
Going rummy
Going out in a single turn by melding your whole hand at once, without having laid any melds down earlier in the deal. It typically doubles the score for that hand.
Knock
In Gin games, ending a hand by laying down your melds once your unmatched deadwood totals ten points or fewer, then making a final discard. Your opponent then lays off and the two counts are compared.
Gin
Melding all ten of your cards with zero deadwood in Gin Rummy. Going Gin earns a bonus, usually 25 points, and stops your opponent from laying off any of their cards.
Big Gin
Melding all eleven cards in hand - the ten dealt plus the card you drew - without discarding, for a larger bonus that is often around 31 points.
Deadwood
The cards left in your hand that are not part of any meld. Their combined pip value is your deadwood count, which you lower in order to knock and which is scored against you when someone goes out.
Undercut
In Gin games, when the player who did not knock ends up with equal or less deadwood after laying off. The undercutter scores the difference plus a bonus instead of the knocker scoring the hand.
Declare (declaration)
In Indian Rummy and similar games, ending the hand by showing all thirteen cards arranged into valid sequences and sets. A wrong declaration - for example one lacking a pure sequence - is penalized heavily.
Drop
Folding out of a hand before it ends, taking a fixed penalty instead of risking a larger loss. It is common in Indian Rummy, where a first drop or middle drop costs set points, and central to Tonk.
Float
In Tonk, being left with no cards after laying off your last one without formally going out. A floating player stays in the hand but risks a penalty if another player goes out first.
Tonk (tunk)
In the game of Tonk, being dealt a very low starting count - typically 49 or 50 - that lets you declare and win the hand instantly, before any cards are drawn.
On the pass
Choosing not to take the upcard on the opening turn of Gin Rummy. If both players pass on the first upcard, the non-dealer draws from the stock and normal play begins.
Melding-game terms
Canasta
A meld of seven cards of the same rank. Completing canastas is the goal of the game Canasta, and your side must finish at least one before it is allowed to go out.
Natural canasta (pure)
A canasta of seven cards built entirely from natural cards, with no wild cards at all. It scores a large bonus, usually 500 points.
Mixed canasta (dirty)
A canasta of seven cards that includes one to three wild cards. It scores a smaller bonus than a natural canasta, typically 300 points.
Red three
In Canasta, a red 3 is a bonus card laid down immediately and replaced with a fresh draw. Collecting them can be worth big points, or big penalties if your side never melds.
Freeze (frozen pile)
When the discard pile is frozen - by a wild card or a red three - a player may only take it while holding a natural pair matching the top card. Freezing is a key defensive lever in Canasta.
Contract
In Contract Rummy, the exact combination of sets and runs a player must meld to lay down in a given deal, such as two sets in the first round. The required contract changes across the seven deals.
Opening (opening meld)
The first melds a player lays down. Some games gate it behind a minimum value - 40 or 51 points in Kalooki - or a required contract before any melding or laying off is allowed.
That is the core vocabulary of rummy. Keep this glossary open in a tab the first few times you try a new game, and the terms will stick fast. Ready to put them to use? Jump into a classic game of Gin Rummy, or browse the full lineup on the more games page.