mah-jongg

Or mah-jong

[mah-jawng, -jong, -zhawng, -zhong]

noun

1. a game of Chinese origin usually played by four persons with 144 dominolike pieces or tiles marked in suits, counters, and dice, the object being to build a winning combination of pieces.

verb (used without object)

1. to win a game of mah-jongg.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mah-jongg¹

1920–25; < dialectal Chinese; compare Guangdong dial. màh-jéuk, Chinese máquè literally, sparrow (depicted on the first tile of a set), equivalent to má hemp + què bird

Example Sentences

And it’s like I’m just saying all the things that you might say in your mah-jongg group, but I’m saying it out loud.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s mah-jongg o’clock, and he’s ready.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Tony Lam, second from left, plays mah-jongg with his son-in-law James Do, left, grandson Patrick Do, second from right, and Lam’s wife, Hop Lam, in Huntington Beach.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Lam lines up his mah-jongg tiles.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Eileen learns more than Charles simply by quizzing her gossipy mah-jongg partners, whose conversations easily shift from irritable bowel syndrome to leading drug dealers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times