bezique

[buh-zeek]

noun Cards.

a game resembling pinochle, originally played with 64 cards and now more commonly with 128 cards and, sometimes, 192 or 256 cards.

Origin of bezique

1860–65; < French bésigue, bézigue, perhaps < Italian bazzica a similar game, derived variously from bazza trump card, stroke of luck, or bazzicare to frequent, haunt

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bezique

Historical Examples of bezique

Lady Bligh and Sir James were deep in their game of bezique.
A Bride from the Bush
E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
It used to be different when me and Maria could stick it out over a game of bezique.
Foe-Farrell
Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
There were there eight or ten card-tables—piquet, bezique, whist, etc.
Parisian Points of View
Ludovic Halvy
She knew that bezique was a game of cards—or a game of something else.
Main Street
Sinclair Lewis
The name Bezique itself is applied to the combination of the knave of diamonds and queen of spades.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for bezique

bezique

noun

a card game for two or more players with tricks similar to whist but with additional points scored for honours and sequences: played with two packs with nothing below a seven
(in this game) the queen of spades and jack of diamonds declared together

Word Origin for bezique

C19: from French bésigue, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bezique

card game, 1861, from French bézigue (19c.), of unknown origin.