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Solitaire Terms and Glossary

Solitaire has its own vocabulary. Here are the words you'll see in the rules, in strategy guides and on the game board.

Ace

The lowest card in solitaire. Aces start each foundation pile.

Build

To place a card onto a pile in the right order. On the tableau you build down in alternating colors. On the foundations you build up by suit.

Draw 1 / Draw 3

How many cards you turn over from the stock at a time. Compare the two.

Empty column

A tableau column with no cards left. Only a King, or a run that starts with a King, can be placed there.

Face down / face up

Whether a card's value is hidden or showing. Only face-up cards can be moved.

Foundation

One of the four piles at the top where you build each suit from Ace up to King. Filling all four wins the game.

King

The highest card. It's the last card on each foundation, and the only card that can fill an empty tableau column.

Klondike

The most popular solitaire game, with seven tableau columns, a stock and four foundations. It's what most people mean by "solitaire." There are many other kinds, too: see types of solitaire.

Move

Taking a card, or a run of cards, from one place to another. ProSolitaire counts your moves while you play.

Run (or sequence)

Several face-up cards in order on a tableau column, such as a red 6 on a black 7. A run can be moved together.

Stock (draw pile)

The face-down pile at the top left. You turn over cards from it when you have no more moves on the tableau.

Suit

Spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs. Spades and clubs are black, and hearts and diamonds are red.

Tableau

The seven columns of cards in the middle of the table, where most of the game is played.

Unwinnable deal

A deal that can't be completed, however well you play. Not every Klondike deal can be won.

Waste (talon)

The pile next to the stock where drawn cards go face up. The top card can be played. In some books the stock and waste together are called the talon.

Want the full rules? See how to play Klondike solitaire, or read the strategy tips.