mah-jongg

American  

[mah-jawng, -jong, -zhawng, -zhong] / ˈmɑˈdʒɔŋ, -ˈdʒɒŋ, -ˈʒɔŋ, -ˈʒɒŋ /

Or mah-jong

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.

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verb (used without object)

1. to win a game of mah-jongg.

Etymology

Origin of mah-jongg

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.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025

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.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2025

She loves to talk about how mah-jongg is often mischaracterized as an ancient game played by Chinese emperors when it was really invented in the mid-1800s.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2023

Lin, who redistributes antique vinyl for music label Light in the Attic Records, says her “archival anxiety” drives her fascination with mah-jongg.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2023

“Yes, and the taxicabs and the dinners. And mah-jongg all night sometimes.”

From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang