Mahjong Solitaire Glossary
Mahjong Solitaire terms explained in plain language: free and locked tiles, suits, honors, bonus tiles, layouts, the Turtle, hints, shuffle, and more.
Mahjong Solitaire has a small vocabulary, but guides, apps, and forums use it constantly. This glossary explains every common term in plain language, from free tiles to the Turtle layout.
Terms A to Z
- Free tile
- A tile with nothing on top of it and at least one open side, left or right. Only free tiles can be matched.
- Locked tile
- A tile that is covered, or blocked on both the left and the right. It becomes free once the tiles pinning it are cleared.
- Pair
- Two matching free tiles removed together. A classic 144-tile board holds 72 pairs.
- Face
- The symbol printed on a tile, such as 5 Bamboo or the Red Dragon. Standard faces appear four times each.
- Suit
- One of the three numbered families: circles (dots), bamboo, and characters, each numbered 1 to 9.
- Honor tiles
- The winds (East, South, West, North) and dragons (Red, Green, White). They have no numbers.
- Bonus tiles
- Flowers and seasons. Any flower matches any flower, and any season matches any season.
- Layout
- The shape the tiles are stacked into, such as the Turtle, a pyramid, or a fortress.
- Turtle
- The classic five-layer, 144-tile layout. Also called the Dragon or the standard layout.
- Layer
- One level of height in a stack. Tiles on higher layers lock the tiles below them.
- Stack
- Tiles piled on top of one another in the same position. Only the top tile of a stack can be free.
- Row end
- The leftmost or rightmost tile in a row. Row ends are usually the first tiles to become free.
- Deal
- The arrangement of faces across a layout at the start of a game. A random deal can be unwinnable; a solvable deal always has a solution.
- Dead end
- A position with no free pairs left. Undo, shuffle, or a restart are the ways out.
- Hint
- An assist that highlights an available pair.
- Undo
- An assist that reverses your last move or moves.
- Shuffle
- An assist that rearranges the remaining tiles into new positions when you are stuck.
- Tray
- In tray-style Mahjong Solitaire, a small row of slots that holds picked tiles until two matching tiles meet and clear.
- Shanghai
- The name of the 1986 Activision release and a common alternative name for Mahjong Solitaire.
- Mahjongg
- An alternative spelling of mahjong, common in American usage and in early computer versions of the game.
Put the terms to work
With the vocabulary in place, the rules read quickly. Start with how to play Mahjong Solitaire, then check the Mahjong Solitaire rules for edge cases. For tile symbols, see mahjong tile meanings; for board shapes, see layouts.
Ready to play? ZenCraft Mahjong Solitaire is a free, tray-style Mahjong Solitaire game for iOS and Android with optional Hint, Undo, and Shuffle.