Dominoes Glossary
Domino rules use a small vocabulary that nobody ever explains: the boneyard is the face-down pile left after the deal, a spinner is a double you may branch the line from, and to "domino" is to play your last tile and end the round.
The words
Boneyard
- The face-down pile of tiles left over after the deal. In the Draw game you take from it when you cannot play; in the Block game it is not used at all. Its last two tiles are never drawn.
Bone
- Another word for a domino tile, from the material sets were traditionally made of. Hence "boneyard" for the leftovers.
Double
- A tile with the same number at both ends, such as the 4–4. There is one for each number — seven in a double-six set. Doubles match only a single number, which makes them the hardest tiles to place.
Spinner
- A double the line of play may branch from, giving the layout more than two open ends. Spinners are a common house rule rather than part of the base game, and they are central to Five-Up.
Domino
- As a verb, to play your last tile and end the round — traditionally announced by saying "domino". The player who does it scores the pips left in everyone else’s hands.
Blocked
- A round in which no player can legally play and no tiles may be drawn. Play stops and the lowest pip count wins. About six in ten Block-game rounds end this way.
Pips
- The dots on a domino. A tile’s pip count is its value for scoring, so the 6–4 is worth ten and the 0–0 is worth nothing.
Open end
- A number showing at either end of the line of play, available to be matched. The basic game has exactly two; spinners create more.
Heavy and light
- A heavy tile or hand is one with a high pip count, a light one has a low count. Being caught with a heavy hand costs more, since the round is scored on the pips you are still holding.
Muggins
- Another name for All Fives, the game in which you score whenever the open ends total a multiple of five. Also a house rule allowing an opponent to claim points you forgot to take.
Engine
- In Mexican Train, the double placed in the centre to start a round — the 12-12 in the first round, then the 11-11, and so on down to the double-blank.
Train
- In Mexican Train, a line of tiles running out from the central engine. Each player has their own, plus one shared Mexican Train anyone may play on.