pinochle
Americannoun
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a popular card game played by two, three, or four persons, with a 48-card deck.
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a meld of the queen of spades and the jack of diamonds in this game.
noun
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a card game for two to four players similar to bezique
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the combination of queen of spades and jack of diamonds in this game
Etymology
Origin of pinochle
1860–65, < Swiss German Binokel, Binoggel < Swiss French binocle literally, pince-nez ( see binocle 1), probably adopted as synonym of the less current French besicles spectacles, folk-etymological alteration of bezigue bezique
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.
Whatever the task — from roasting peanuts for his grandfather’s pinochle buddies to building a tool shed from scratch — it had to be done right.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2022
He spends much of his time watching any one of his six grandkids or playing pinochle and dominoes.
From Washington Post • Oct. 8, 2021
Irma, Agnes, Bertha, Floyd—they sound like finalists in a pinochle tournament.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 25, 2019
Neil Reamann and Jerry Johnson, both of Bismarck, are military veterans, longtime friends and pinochle partners but they couldn’t disagree more on who should hold the Senate seat.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 9, 2018
He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
