Solitaire Terms Explained (Glossary)
Rules pages for patience games use a handful of words over and over. Here they are in plain English.
- Tableau
- The main playing area: the columns of cards on the table. In Klondike there are 7 columns, in FreeCell 8, in Spider 10.
- Foundation
- The piles where you build the finished suits, usually from Ace up to King. In Klondike and FreeCell there are four.
- Stock
- The face-down pile of undealt cards you draw from.
- Waste
- The face-up pile where cards from the stock land. Usually only its top card can be played.
- Free cell
- In FreeCell, one of four spaces that can hold a single card temporarily.
- Build down / build up
- Placing a card on one of the next higher rank (down) or next lower rank (up).
- Alternating colours
- Red on black, black on red, as in Klondike and FreeCell.
- In suit
- The same suit: hearts on hearts. Spider runs must be in suit to move together.
- Run / sequence
- Several cards in order, like 9-8-7.
- Pass
- One trip through the stock. Draw 3 Klondike and Pyramid often allow several passes; TriPeaks and Golf allow one.
- Deal number
- A number that recreates the same shuffle, so a deal can be replayed or shared.
- Supermove
- In FreeCell, moving a whole run at once, as if moving it card by card through free cells.
- Auto-move
- When the game sends safe cards to the foundations for you.
- Patience
- The British word for solitaire.
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FAQ
What is the tableau in solitaire?
The main area of columns where you move and build cards.
What is the difference between the stock and the waste?
The stock is the face-down pile you draw from; the waste is the face-up pile the drawn cards go to.