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 ( 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
The Prius driver, Robert Hassan, was a 76-year-old retired physician and Air Force colonel driving home after playing pinochle with friends, according to his brother.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 22, 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
Compared with Y.A., prison was a holiday: he was put in the general population, and he had a TV in his cell, he was playing horseshoes and pinochle, he had a job.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 4, 2016
He’d started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.
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.
