Definitions for 125 common Scrabble terms, A–Z with definitions
125 entries
| TERM | DEFINITION |
|---|---|
| ADJUDICATION (WORD LOOKUP) | The process of ruling on the validity of a challenged word, typically by consulting an official word judge, a designated software tool (such as Zyzzyva in Word Judge mode), or a tournament director. |
| AEROLITH | A free web-based flashcard tool for studying Scrabble word lists. See https://aerolith.org/ |
| ALPHAGRAM | A word's letters arranged in alphabetical order (e.g., RETINA → AEINRT). Players study alphagrams to recognize patterns and find words more easily. |
| ANAGRAM | To determine what words can be formed from a set of tiles (Consonant-vowel) Balance The ratio between consonants and vowels in a rack or leave; also abbreviated CV balance |
| ANAMONIC | A short memory phrase used to help remember which letters combine with a stem to form a bingo. See the PDX Scrabble anamonics study page. |
| BACK HOOK | A single letter added to the end of a word to form a new valid word (e.g., FORGE → FORGET). See the hook lists on this site. |
| BINGO (BONUS / SEVEN) | A play that uses all 7 tiles on your rack, earning a 50-point bonus. The word played may be 7 or 8 (or more) letters long — the bonus is for using all 7 rack tiles, regardless of word length. |
| BLANK | A tile with no letter (and no point value) that can represent any letter. Blanks are among the most powerful tiles in the game because they make bingos much easier. See POWER TILES. |
| BLOCKER (BLOCKING MOVE) | A defensive play that closes off scoring opportunities on the board. |
| BLOWOUT | A game won by a large margin (spread). |
| BOARD VISION | The ability to find and evaluate hot spots, bingo lanes and board geometry quickly |
| BONUS | See BINGO. |
| BONUS SQUARE | Squares on a Scrabble board which yield an extra point bonus, i.e., the double-letter, triple-letter, double-word, and tripleword squares; also called premium squares |
| BRAILING | Illegally feeling tiles in the bag to identify them by touch — particularly to find blanks, which may have a subtly different texture. Tournament tiles (see TOURNAMENT TILES) are designed to prevent this. Brailing is a serious rules violation. |
| BURN | Using a valuable tile (such as an S or blank) for less than its full scoring potential, usually for strategic reasons. |
| CARDBOX | A physical or software-based spaced-repetition flashcard system for studying Scrabble words. See ZYZZYVA. |
| CASE [LETTER] | The last remaining tile of a specific letter. When only one of a given letter is left unseen — in the bag or on your opponent's rack — it is called "the case [letter]." Knowing the case tile is critical in endgame planning. |
| CENTER STAR (STAR) | The middle square on the board. The first word must cover it, and it counts as a double word score. |
| CHALLENGE | Questioning whether an opponent's word is valid. A correct challenge removes the word; an incorrect challenge may be penalized depending on the rules. See DOUBLE CHALLENGE, SINGLE CHALLENGE, POINT PENALTY CHALLENGE. |
| CHANGE | See EXCHANGE. |
| CLOCK (TIMER) | A chess-style device used to track each player's thinking time. (Only some electronic chess timers are acceptable as they need to keep running when the time goes below zero) |
| CLOSED BOARD | A board position where most lanes and hot spots are blocked, making it difficult to score or play bingos. Contrast with OPEN BOARD. |
| COFFEE-HOUSING | Attempting to distract or mislead an opponent through table talk, exaggerated reactions, false hesitation, or other unsportsmanlike behavior. Prohibited in tournament play. |
| COLLINS SCRABBLE WORDS (CSW / COLLINS / SOWPODS) | The main word list used outside North America. See https://www.collinsdictionary.com/ |
| CONSOGRAM | A way of writing a word by separating consonants and vowels (e.g., RETINA → NRT + AEI). |
| CONSONANT-HEAVY | A rack with too many consonants, making it harder to form words. |
| COUNTBACK | End-of-game score adjustment based on leftover tiles. |
| COUNTER | A high-point tile (typically worth 5 or more points), such as J, Q, X, or Z. |
| CROSS-TABLES | A website recording tournament results, ratings history, and player statistics for NASPA-sanctioned events. See https://www.cross-tables.com/ |
| CUM (CUMULATIVE SCORE) | A player's running point total across all games in a tournament. Used as a tiebreaker when two players have the same win-loss record: the player with the higher cumulative score ranks higher. |
| DEFENDER | A word ending with a letter like C, K, or V that does not form common two-letter words in North American play, making it harder to hook. Note: this usage is not standard across all clubs. |
| DLS (DOUBLE LETTER SCORE) | A square that doubles the value of a single letter. |
| DLS-DLS | See DOUBLE-DOUBLE. |
| DOUBLE CHALLENGE | A rule (used in North America) where an incorrect challenge results in losing your turn. |
| DOUBLE-DOUBLE (FOUR-TIMER) | A play that covers two double word squares, scoring four times the word value. |
| DOUBLE-TRIPLE | A play which covers a DLS and a TWS, yielding 6x letter bonus on the tile placed on the DLS |
| DUMP | Playing off unwanted tiles to improve your rack. |
| DUPLICATE | A Scrabble format where all players use the same tiles and board, competing to find the highest-scoring play each turn. |
| DWS (DOUBLE WORD SCORE) | A square that doubles the total value of a word. |
| ELO | A rating algorithm (originally developed for chess) that assigns numerical ratings based on game results. NASPA uses a modified Elo system: beating a higher-rated opponent gains more rating points than beating a lower-rated one. |
| ENDGAME | The final stage of the game when all tiles are known and no tiles remain in the bag. |
| ENTROPY | A measure of how much the score is likely to change — how "swingy" a game position is. |
| EQUITY | The true value of a move, accounting for its score, the quality of the tiles you keep (leave), and board position. The highest-equity play is not always the highest-scoring one. |
| EXCHANGE (CHANGE / "PASSING n") | Trading tiles instead of playing a word. Allowed only if at least 7 tiles remain in the bag. |
| EXTENSION | Adding letters to an existing word (e.g., CHANT → PENCHANT). |
| FALSE WORD | See PHONY. |
| FLOATER | A useful letter already on the board that can help form longer words. |
| FOUR-TIMER | See DOUBLE-DOUBLE. |
| FRONT HOOK | A single letter added to the beginning of a word (e.g., SLANDER → ISLANDER). See the hook lists on this site. |
| GOING OUT | Playing your last tile(s) to end the game. |
| GOING OVER | Exceeding your time limit (see OVERTIME). |
| GOODIES | See POWER TILES. |
| HOLD | A pause requested after an opponent's move while deciding whether to challenge. |
| HOOK | A letter that can be added to the front or back of a word to form a new valid word. See the hook lists on this site. |
| HOT SPOT | An area of the board where a high-scoring play is possible. |
| KEEP | See LEAVE. |
| KITCHEN TABLE PLAYER/PARLOR PLAYER/CASUAL PLAYER) | A player who does not play Scrabble extensively or regularly, has typically not had any study or instruction in how to play Scrabble beyond the rules printed on the top of the box |
| LADDER (STAIR-STEP / STAIRCASE) | A series of short plays building in one direction, often leading to a blocked board. |
| LANE | An open row or column where a long or high-scoring word (such as a bingo) could fit. |
| LEAVE (KEEP) | The tiles remaining on your rack after making a play. |
| LEXICON | The official word list used in a given Scrabble variant or tournament. Common lexicons include NWL (North America club/tournament), WOW (WGPO), and CSW (international). |
| MARGIN (SPREAD) | The difference between the players' scores. |
| NASPA (North American Scrabble Players Association) | The organization that oversees competitive Scrabble in North America and maintains the NWL lexicon. See https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/ |
| NATURAL (NATURAL BINGO) | A bingo played using only the 7 tiles on your rack, without using an existing letter on the board (i.e., a 7-letter word placed fresh on the board). |
| NEUTRALIZE (THE CLOCK) | To stop both players' clocks during a game interruption — such as a challenge or a director ruling. Either player may neutralize by pressing the clock button on their opponent's side. Time does not run while the clock is neutralized. |
| NWL (North American Word List / OTaCWL / TWL) | The official word list used in NASPA club and tournament play in North America. The current version is NWL23. See https://www.scrabbleplayers.org/ |
| OPEN BOARD | A board position with many available lanes and hot spots, giving both players opportunities to score and play bingos. Contrast with CLOSED BOARD. |
| OSPD (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary) | A Merriam-Webster dictionary used in casual play and as the basis for North American club and tournament word lists; the competitive standard is now the NWL. |
| OTaCWL (TWL) | See NWL. |
| OUTPLAY (PLAY OUT) | A move that uses your final tiles and ends the game. |
| OVERDRAW | Drawing too many tiles from the bag by mistake. |
| OVERLAP (PARALLEL PLAY / UNDERLAP) | Playing alongside another word to form multiple new words. |
| OVERTIME | Exceeding your allotted time, usually resulting in point penalties. |
| PARALLEL PLAY | See OVERLAP. |
| PASS | Choosing not to play a word or exchange tiles. |
| PASS OUT | Having both players making passing turns until the game is declared finished (typically 6 scores of zero points ends the game) |
| PHONY (PHONEY / FALSE WORD/ NON-GO) | An invalid word that remains on the board because it was not challenged. |
| POINT PENALTY CHALLENGE | A rule (common internationally) where an incorrect challenge results in a point penalty rather than loss of turn. |
| POST-MORTEM | Reviewing a game afterward to learn from it. |
| POWER TILES ("GOODIES") | The most influential tiles: the four S tiles and the two blanks (because of their extreme flexibility), plus the high-scoring J, Q, X, and Z. |
| PRE-ENDGAME | The stage when only a few tiles remain in the bag (usually fewer than 7). |
| PREMIUM SQUARE | Any square that increases the value of a letter or word (DLS, TLS, DWS, TWS). |
| PRO-TILES | See TOURNAMENT TILES. |
| Q STICK | An endgame tactic that leaves an opponent stuck with an unplayable Q (or another difficult tile), gaining extra points. |
| QUACKLE | A free, open-source Scrabble analysis program used to study positions and improve play. See https://people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle/ |
| RACK | The tiles you currently hold (and the physical holder). |
| RACK BALANCING (RACK MANAGEMENT) | Keeping a good mix of vowels and consonants to improve your chances of making strong plays. |
| RANKING | A player's position in a rating system based on tournament results. |
| RATING | A numerical measure of a player's skill based on past performance. |
| SET-UP | A play that creates a strong scoring opportunity for a future turn. |
| SEVEN | See BINGO. |
| SHAPE | An abstraction of the geometric arrangement of the existing tiles on a Scrabble board |
| SIMPLE PLAY | A play which forms only one word |
| SIMULATE (SIM) | Using computer software (such as Quackle) to analyze the best possible plays. |
| SINGLE CHALLENGE | A rule where incorrect challenges are not penalized. |
| SOWPODS | An older term for a combined UK/US word list; now largely replaced by CSW. (It is an anagram of OSPD and OSW, merging British and American Scrabble word lists) |
| SPREAD | See MARGIN. |
| STAIR-STEP (STAIRCASE) | See LADDER. |
| STEM | A group of letters (usually 6) that can form many bingos when combined with one more letter. See the bingo stems study page on this site. |
| STICK | See Q STICK. |
| SYNERGY | The property of a rack where the tiles work well together to form words. A rack with good synergy has tiles that combine easily into bingos or high-scoring plays. |
| TAILOR (ONE'S RACK) | To make a play that yields a good leave, ensuring a playable rack and possibly a bingo on the next turn |
| THROUGH-PLAY | A play that uses existing letters on the board (e.g., MEOW → HOMEOWNER). |
| TIME PENALTY | Points deducted for going into overtime. |
| TIMER | See CLOCK. |
| TLS (TRIPLE LETTER SCORE) | A square that triples the value of a single letter. |
| TOURNAMENT TILES (PRO-TILES) | Tiles with smooth surfaces used in competitive play to prevent identifying blanks by touch. |
| TRACKING (TILE TRACKING) | Keeping a written record of which tiles have been played, so you know what remains in the bag and on your opponent's rack. Most tournament players track tiles on their score sheet during the game. |
| TRIPLE-TRIPLE | A play that covers two triple word squares, scoring nine times the word value. |
| TURNOVER | The number of tiles used in a move. |
| TWL | See NWL. |
| TWS (TRIPLE WORD SCORE) | A square that triples the value of a word. |
| TWS-TWS | See TRIPLE-TRIPLE. |
| UNDERLAP | See OVERLAP. |
| UNSEEN (POOL) | Tiles not yet visible (still in the bag or on your opponent's rack). |
| VOLATILITY | The degree to which a game position is subject to large score swings. A player who is behind often seeks high volatility — opening the board to create scoring opportunities — while a player who is ahead prefers low volatility to protect their lead. Related to ENTROPY. |
| VOWEL CONSONANT RATIO | The balance of vowels and consonants in your rack or leave. |
| VOWEL DUMP | Playing mostly vowels to fix a vowel-heavy rack. |
| VOWEL-HEAVY | A rack with too many vowels. |
| VOWELITIS | A Scrabble player’s name for too many vowels — easily cured with a clever vowel dump or exchange |
| WGPO (Word Game Players Organization) | An organization that runs tournaments using the WOW word list. See https://wordgameplayers.org/ |
| WOOGLES | A free online platform for playing and studying Scrabble. See https://woogles.io/ |
| WORD JUDGE | An official or electronic referee used in tournament play to adjudicate word challenges. |
| WOW (WGPO Official Words) | The official word list used by WGPO clubs and tournaments, including PDX Scrabble. The current version is WOW24. |
| ZYZZYVA | A popular Scrabble study program (Mac/Windows) featuring a word lookup tool and cardbox (spaced-repetition flashcard system). See https://www.zyzzyva.net/ |
125 entries
Copyright © 2026 Mitch Bayersdorfer · AGPL-3.0 · Thanks to Joe Petree for his definitions for these lists. · Detailed Attributions