A plain-English reference for bridge glossary terms — from casual void deck games to competitive play
Bridge has been around for over a hundred years, and in that time it’s picked up a lot of jargon. If you’ve ever sat at a table — whether it’s your HDB void deck or a community centre tournament — and heard someone say “I finessed the Queen through dummy” and thought what on earth does that mean, this page is for you.
I’ve organized everything alphabetically. Each term has a short, no-nonsense definition. If you want the full rules, check out our Floating Bridge rules guide or the strategy guide.
Auction — The phase before play where all four players bid (or pass) to determine the contract. In Floating Bridge, this decides who becomes the declarer. Same idea as Contract Bridge, except you’re bidding for yourself, not a fixed partnership.
Balanced hand — A hand with no voids, no singletons, and at most one doubleton. Typical shapes: 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2. These hands are fine for no-trump contracts but rarely exciting for suit play.
Bid — A declaration during the auction that commits you to winning a certain number of tricks with a specific trump suit (or no-trump). A bid of “2 Hearts” means “I think I can win 8 tricks with Hearts as trump.”
Board — One complete deal of cards. When someone says “we played 12 boards tonight,” they mean 12 hands were dealt and played.
Book — The first six tricks won by the declaring side. These don’t count toward the bid — only tricks above the book count. So a bid of “3 Spades” means you need 6 + 3 = 9 tricks total.
Call — Any action during the auction: a bid, pass, double, or redouble. Every call carries information, even a pass.
Called card — (Floating Bridge) The specific card nominated by the declarer to select their secret partner. Whoever holds the called card is the declarer’s partner, but nobody else knows who that is until the card is played. See our Floating Bridge vs Contract Bridge comparison for more on this mechanic.
Contract — The final bid that wins the auction. It specifies how many tricks the declarer must win and which suit is trump (or no-trump). Fail to make your contract and you give points to the defenders.
Convention — An agreed-upon meaning for a bid that differs from its literal value. Stayman and Blackwood are famous examples in Contract Bridge. Floating Bridge doesn’t really use conventions since partnerships aren’t fixed.
Cross-ruff — A play technique where both partners trump alternately in each other’s void suits, racking up tricks without ever drawing trump. It’s beautiful when it works.
Deal — The distribution of all 52 cards to four players, 13 each.
Declarer — The player who won the auction. They lead the first trick and are responsible for making the contract. In Floating Bridge, the declarer also chooses the called card to pick their partner.
Defender — Any player opposing the declarer’s side. In Floating Bridge, there are three defenders (since one of them might secretly be the partner, you don’t know who’s who at first).
Discard — Playing a card that isn’t in the led suit and isn’t a trump. A discard can never win the trick. It’s what you do when you’re void in the suit led and don’t want to use a trump.
Distribution — How the 13 cards in your hand are split across the four suits. A 5-4-3-1 distribution is unbalanced; 4-3-3-3 is flat as a prata.
Double — A call that doubles the scoring value of the current contract if it becomes the final contract. It says “I don’t think you can make that.” In Contract Bridge this is standard; in casual Floating Bridge games it’s sometimes skipped.
Doubleton — Exactly two cards in a suit. Not as dramatic as a singleton or void, but still affects your strategy.
Down — Failing to make your contract. “We went down two” means you fell two tricks short.
Draw trump — Leading trump cards to remove the opponents’ trumps from play. Usually done early when you have strong trumps, so the defenders can’t ruff your winners later.
Dummy — In Contract Bridge, the declarer’s partner lays their cards face-up on the table. Floating Bridge doesn’t have a dummy — all four players hold and play their own cards, which is part of what makes it trickier.
Entry — A card that lets you transfer the lead to a specific hand. “I need an entry to my partner’s hand to cash those winners.”
Finesse — A technique where you play a lower card, hoping that a specific opponent holds the missing higher card in a favourable position. For example, leading toward a K-Q and playing the Queen, hoping the Ace is on your left rather than your right. It’s a 50/50 gamble that good players use constantly.
Fit — When you and your partner hold eight or more cards between you in the same suit. A fit makes that suit a strong trump candidate.
Follow suit — Playing a card of the same suit that was led. You must follow suit if you can — this isn’t optional. Playing a different suit when you could have followed is a revoke.
Forcing bid — A bid that partner cannot pass. Common in Contract Bridge conventions; less relevant in Floating Bridge where partnerships are unknown during the auction.
Game — Reaching a total trick count that earns a game bonus. In standard scoring, this means bidding and making at least 3NT, 4 of a major, or 5 of a minor.
Grand slam — Bidding and winning all 13 tricks. Rare, risky, and absolutely glorious when you pull it off. The whole kopitiam hears about it.
Hand — The 13 cards dealt to a single player. Also used to refer to the entire deal (“that was a crazy hand”).
High card points (HCP) — The standard point-count system: Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1. A deck has 40 HCP total. An average hand has 10.
Honor — Any Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or 10. These are the cards that typically win tricks.
Jump bid — A bid that skips one or more levels. Bidding 3 Hearts when 1 Heart would have been sufficient. Signals a strong hand.
Lead — The first card played to a trick. The player who won the previous trick gets to lead the next one. The opening lead (first trick of the hand) often decides the whole game.
Long suit — A suit where you hold five or more cards. Long suits generate extra tricks once the opponents run out of that suit. If you’ve got seven Hearts, after three rounds of Hearts most people are out — your remaining four are all winners.
Major suit — Spades and Hearts. These are worth more in scoring than minor suits, which is why you’ll hear players prefer bidding majors.
Make — Successfully winning enough tricks to fulfill the contract. “We made 4 Spades” means the declaring side won 10 tricks.
Minor suit — Diamonds and Clubs. You need to bid to the 5-level (11 tricks) for game in a minor, which is why players usually prefer majors or no-trump.
No-trump (NT) — A contract played without any trump suit. The highest card in the led suit wins each trick. No-trump contracts require stoppers in every suit because there’s no way to ruff.
Opening bid — The first non-pass bid in the auction. Usually requires around 12+ HCP, though aggressive players in Floating Bridge will open lighter since there’s no partnership signalling.
Opening lead — The first card played in the entire hand, made by the player to the left of the declarer (in Contract Bridge). In Floating Bridge, the player to the declarer’s left leads first.
Overbid — Bidding higher than your hand supports. Sometimes intentional as a bluff; usually just wishful thinking. The aunties at the kopitiam table will let you know if you overbid.
Overtrick — Each trick won beyond what the contract required. You bid 2 Hearts and won 9 tricks? That’s one overtrick. Nice bonus, but not worth risking the contract for.
Part score — A contract below game level. You bid and made 2 Spades? That’s a part score — you get points, but no game bonus.
Pass — Choosing not to bid during the auction. Three consecutive passes after a bid ends the auction.
Penalty — Points awarded to the defenders when the declarer fails to make the contract. Penalties increase when vulnerable or when the contract has been doubled.
Preemptive bid — A high-level bid made with a weak hand but a very long suit. The idea is to eat up bidding space so opponents can’t communicate. Opening 3 Diamonds with a seven-card Diamond suit and nothing else? That’s a preempt.
Rebid — A player’s second bid in the auction. In Contract Bridge, the rebid gives partner more information about your hand.
Redouble — A call that doubles the score yet again after an opponent has doubled. It’s essentially saying “oh, you think I can’t make this? Watch me.” High stakes.
Revoke — Failing to follow suit when you could have. This is illegal and results in a penalty. In casual games at the void deck, it usually results in a lot of shouting and the offending uncle buying kopi for everyone.
Rubber — A set of games in Contract Bridge. The first side to win two games wins the rubber and gets bonus points. Not commonly used in Floating Bridge, where scoring is typically per-hand.
Ruff — Playing a trump card when you can’t follow suit. Ruffing lets you win a trick even when you’re void in the led suit, as long as nobody plays a higher trump.
Set — Another word for defeating the contract. “We set them by two tricks.”
Short suit — A suit where you hold zero, one, or two cards. Short suits are valuable in trump contracts because they create ruffing opportunities.
Singleton — Exactly one card in a suit. A singleton Ace is powerful — you win one guaranteed trick and then you’re void, ready to ruff.
Slam — Bidding and winning 12 tricks (small slam) or all 13 tricks (grand slam). Massive bonus points. Also massive egg on your face if you don’t make it.
Small slam — Bidding at the 6-level and winning 12 of 13 tricks. Easier than a grand slam but still requires a monster hand or great partnership coordination.
Stopper — A high card (usually Ace or King) in a suit that prevents opponents from running that suit against you. Essential for no-trump contracts.
Suit — One of the four groups of cards: Spades (♠), Hearts (♥), Diamonds (♦), and Clubs (♣). Each suit has 13 cards from 2 to Ace.
Trick — One round of play where each player contributes one card. The highest card in the led suit (or the highest trump) wins the trick. There are 13 tricks per hand.
Trump — The suit designated by the winning bid to be the most powerful suit for that hand. Any trump card beats any non-trump card, regardless of rank.
Undertrick — Each trick by which the declarer falls short of the contract. Bid 3 Hearts and won only 7 tricks? That’s two undertricks, and the defenders are collecting penalty points.
Uppercut — A defensive play where you ruff with a high trump, forcing the declarer to overruff with an even higher trump. This promotes a trump trick for your partner.
Void — Having zero cards in a suit. Voids are gold in trump contracts because every time that suit is led, you can ruff. In your hand evaluation, voids are worth 2 extra points.
Vulnerable — A scoring state in Contract Bridge where penalties for failing a contract are higher, but bonuses for making contracts are also increased. In casual Floating Bridge, vulnerability rules are sometimes simplified or skipped altogether.
These terms are unique to Floating Bridge (Singaporean Bridge) and you won’t find them in a standard Contract Bridge textbook.
Called card — The specific card chosen by the declarer after winning the auction. The holder of this card becomes the declarer’s secret partner. Most commonly an Ace in the declarer’s weakest suit. See our strategy guide for how to call well.
Floating partnership — The defining feature of the game. Unlike Contract Bridge where North-South always partners against East-West, Floating Bridge partnerships change every hand based on who wins the auction and which card they call. Your ally this round could be your opponent the next.
Partner calling — The act of selecting a card to determine your secret partner. This replaces the fixed partnerships of Contract Bridge and is what makes the game “floating” — the partnerships float from hand to hand.
Secret partner — The player who holds the called card. They know who they are, but the three other players (the declarer and the two defenders) don’t know which of the non-declarers is the partner and which are defenders. The secret partner’s job is to help the declarer without revealing their identity too early. It’s the mechanic that makes this game so different from regular bridge — and so fun to play with friends at the kopitiam or online.
Want to go deeper? These resources are solid:
Or if you just want to play: