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

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

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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.

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Lam lines up his mah-jongg tiles.

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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.

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When Junko Suzuki opened Suehiro with her sister Yuriko in 1972, they were only looking to create a place to play their favorite game, mah-jongg.

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