canasta
Americannoun
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canastas
plural
noun
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a card game for two to six players who seek to amass points by declaring sets of cards
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Also called: meld. a declared set in this game, containing seven or more like cards, worth 500 points if the canasta is pure or 300 if wild (containing up to three jokers)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of canasta
1945–50; < Spanish: literally, basket, apparently variant of canastro < Greek kánastron wicker basket ( see canister)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last year Siegel taught the oldest boys at camp canasta, another game popular among retirees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
“She doesn’t know us,” said Digna Orozco, who sells pambazos and tacos de canasta on a dirt patch near semi-trailer truck lots in Fontana.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2024
Nursing a canasta defeat nearby, Jacque Deuser, 67, said the way Mr. Biden sometimes walked reminded her of her late husband, who had dementia.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2023
“Coates had those steely blue eyes, and after the canasta comeback, he threw the cards out the window. He was kind of an out-of-control guy.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2022
Oscar’s mother, Doña Marina, has recently joined the canasta group, and during one of the games, Mami and she have discovered that they are related.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
