Solitaire Glossary: Card-Game Terms Explained

A glossary is useful only when it resolves an actual move. “Sequence,” for example, might mean any descending order, an alternating-color Klondike group, or a same-suit Spider group depending on context. This page gives a preferred PlaySoli definition, a practical example, and a note where older books or other software may differ.

Quick reference

Term	Preferred PlaySoli meaning
Tableau	Main working columns where cards are arranged and moved.
Stock	Cards waiting to be turned or dealt under the variant’s rules.
Waste	Klondike pile receiving cards turned from the stock; only the exposed top card is available.
Foundation	Destination pile, usually built by suit from Ace to King in Klondike and FreeCell.
Free cell	A temporary one-card holding space in FreeCell.
Suit	Clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades.
Rank	A card’s value: Ace, 2 through 10, Jack, Queen, or King.
Sequence	Cards arranged according to a stated ordering rule.
Run	A connected ordered group; in Spider, usually a descending same-suit group.
Redeal	Reusing or redistributing stock cards after a pass, when the rules permit it.
Draw one	Turn one Klondike stock card at a time.
Draw three	Turn up to three Klondike stock cards; only the top waste card is playable.
Face up	Card identity is visible.
Face down	Card identity is concealed.
Empty column	Tableau column with no card in it; filling rules vary by game.
Supermove	Interface-assisted FreeCell sequence transfer equivalent to several legal one-card moves.
Legal move	A move allowed by the complete rules of the selected variant.
Deal	The initial distribution, a particular card arrangement, or the action of placing cards.

Layout and card location

Tableau

The tableau is the primary working area. It consists of columns or piles on which cards are rearranged during play.

• Klondike has seven tableau columns.
• Spider has ten tableau columns.
• FreeCell has eight tableau columns.

Historical books also use tableau for an arranged display, but the exact boundaries may differ. A reserve or row outside the modern main columns might still be described as part of a broader tableau in some texts 18.

Example: Moving 7♣ onto 8♦ in Klondike is a tableau-to-tableau move.

Column

A column is one vertical pile or lane within the tableau. A column can contain face-down cards, face-up cards, or both depending on the game.

The word describes a location, not a movement rule. An empty Klondike column accepts only a King or King-led sequence; an empty FreeCell column accepts a single card as a primitive move; an empty Spider column can accept a legal card or movable same-suit sequence.

Empty column

An empty column is a tableau column containing no cards. It is usually valuable working space, but its filling rule is variant-specific.

• Klondike: King or King-led legal sequence only.
• Spider: a single card or movable descending same-suit sequence.
• FreeCell: a single card as the basic legal move; software may use the column as workspace for a supermove.

“Move any card to an empty space” is therefore not a universal solitaire rule.

Stock

The stock contains cards not currently available in the tableau or foundations.

In Klondike, cards leave the stock for the waste. In Spider, the stock deals a fresh card to each tableau column. FreeCell has no stock after the opening deal because all 52 cards start face up in the tableau.

Historical rulebooks may call a stock a talon, or use talon for a stock/waste complex. Always read the local definition 18.

Waste

The waste is the pile receiving cards turned from the Klondike stock. Only the exposed top waste card is available.

In Draw 1, each stock action exposes one card. In Draw 3, up to three cards are turned, but the lower cards remain unavailable until cards above them are played 2 3.

Other common labels include discard pile and, in some software, talon. “Discard” can be misleading because waste cards are not removed from the game.

Foundation

A foundation is a destination pile that contributes directly to the winning arrangement.

On PlaySoli Klondike and FreeCell, there are four foundations, one for each suit, built from Ace upward to King. A foundation is not merely storage. PlaySoli allows the exposed top foundation card to return to a legal tableau destination, but the move still requires a valid landing card and a concrete reason.

Spider uses a different completion mechanism. A full same-suit King-to-Ace run is removed automatically. Editors may loosely call the removal area a foundation, but Spider’s visible play is more accurately described in terms of completed runs.

Free cell

A free cell is one of four temporary holding spaces in FreeCell. Each cell accepts exactly one card 7.

The word free means the location is unrestricted by suit or rank, not that it has unlimited capacity. An occupied cell stops being available workspace until its card moves elsewhere.

Example: Place Q♣ in an empty free cell to expose the card beneath it. The Queen must later have a legal exit to a tableau King, a foundation route, or another planned position.

Reserve

A reserve is a separate group of cards available under the game’s rules but not arranged as ordinary tableau columns. Some patience variants begin with an open reserve; others release reserve cards one at a time. PlaySoli’s current Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell implementations do not use a separately named reserve, but the term appears often in historical and variant literature 18 32.

Talon

Talon is a historical term that can mean the stock, the undealt remainder, or a stock/waste area. Its use is not perfectly consistent across languages and books. On this site, stock means the waiting cards and waste the exposed Klondike pile. Keep talon when a historical source itself uses that word.

Card identity and orientation

Suit

A suit is one of the four standard categories:

• clubs (♣), black;
• diamonds (♦), red;
• hearts (♥), red;
• spades (♠), black.

Suits and colors are not interchangeable concepts. Klondike and FreeCell tableau building uses alternating colors, while foundation building uses matching suits. Spider allows mixed-suit rank building for single cards but requires one suit for a movable group.

Rank

A rank is the value shared by cards across suits: Ace, 2, 3, through 10, Jack, Queen, and King.

“Build down by rank” means each next card is one rank lower. A 9 receives an 8; an 8 receives a 7. It does not state whether color or suit must match. That second condition comes from the variant.

Color

In a standard deck, clubs and spades are black; diamonds and hearts are red. An alternating-color sequence changes color at every step, such as 10♣–9♥–8♠. It does not require alternating suits: 10♣–9♥–8♣ is also valid in Klondike because black/red/black is preserved.

Face up

A face-up card displays its rank and suit. It may still be unavailable if another face-up card covers it or if a waste pile has a card above it.

FreeCell starts with every card face up. Klondike and Spider begin with a mixture of face-up and face-down cards.

Face down

A face-down card conceals its identity. In digital play, the interface turns it automatically when the rules expose it.

A hidden card is not merely an unplayed card: it changes the information available to the player. This distinction matters in research on Klondike solvability and in strategy decisions.

Available card

An available card is a card the rules currently permit the player to select for a move. It is usually the exposed top card of a pile or column, but exact access rules differ.

In Draw 3 Klondike, a visible lower waste card may still be unavailable because another waste card lies above it. In Spider, the top card is available as a single card, while a longer group is available only if the moving group is an uninterrupted descending same-suit sequence.

Ordering and group movement

Build

To build is to place cards in a prescribed order on a tableau or foundation.

• Build down: move from a higher rank to the next lower rank.
• Build up: move from a lower rank to the next higher rank.
• Build by suit: every card has the same suit.
• Build in alternating colors: red and black alternate.

A complete rule combines these phrases. “Build down” alone is incomplete.

Sequence

A sequence is a group of cards arranged according to a stated ordering rule. The word is generic.

• Klondike sequence: normally descending by rank in alternating colors.
• FreeCell sequence: descending by rank in alternating colors.
• Spider sequence: may describe descending ranks, but only a same-suit descending sequence moves as a group on PlaySoli.

Name the governing condition rather than leaving the kind of sequence implied: alternating-color in Klondike, same-suit in Spider, or workspace-limited in FreeCell.

Run

A run is a connected ordered group. In PlaySoli Spider, the strategically important use is a descending same-suit run. A full King-to-Ace same-suit run is removed automatically 4 5 6.

A partial run might be 9♠–8♠–7♠. A complete run is K♠ through A♠ with no breaks.

Some writers use run and sequence interchangeably. PlaySoli should prefer sequence as the broad term and same-suit run when Spider’s movable or complete unit is intended.

Stack

A stack is an informal physical description of cards lying in one pile. It does not imply legal order or group mobility. A Spider column can contain a stack with several suit breaks; only its lower same-suit section may be movable.

Packed sequence

A packed sequence is a sequence arranged so that it can move under the variant’s group-movement rules. Historical books use related expressions for cards in correct internal order. In current beginner-facing copy, explain the actual order instead of relying on the term alone.

Supermove

A supermove is a computer-assisted FreeCell transfer of an ordered sequence that could be carried out as several legal one-card moves using available free cells and empty columns 33.

It is not permission to ignore workspace. The maximum movable length changes as cells and columns become occupied. The destination also matters: moving into an empty column consumes one of the spaces that might otherwise help transport the sequence.

See FreeCell supermoves explained for formulas and worked transfers.

Stock actions and dealing

Deal

Deal has three connected meanings:

1. Verb: place cards into the opening layout or add a row from the stock.
2. Noun, layout: one particular initial card arrangement.
3. Noun, game instance: the attempt played from that arrangement.

“Deal a Spider row” is an action. “This deal is difficult” describes an arrangement. “Replay the deal” means start the same arrangement again.

Draw one

Draw one means turning one Klondike stock card at a time onto the waste. On PlaySoli, the stock may be passed again without a fixed limit 2.

The label is sometimes shortened to Draw 1 or Turn 1. These names refer to stock access, not deck count.

Draw three

Draw three means turning up to three Klondike stock cards onto the waste in one stock action. Only the top available waste card may be played. PlaySoli permits unlimited stock passes 3.

“Up to three” matters because fewer than three cards may remain at the end of a pass.

Pass

A pass is one traversal through the available stock. In Draw 1, it consists of turning cards one by one until none remain in the stock. In Draw 3, it consists of turning groups of up to three. Rules may limit passes, but PlaySoli’s current Draw 1 and Draw 3 games do not impose a fixed pass limit.

Redeal

A redeal is the action that makes stock cards available for another pass or redistributes cards according to the variant. In Klondike terminology, it often means returning the exhausted waste to stock order for another traversal.

Historical rules can allow no redeal, one redeal, a set number, or unlimited redeals 18 32. Never infer the policy from the game name alone.

Row deal

In Spider, a row deal places one new card on each of the ten tableau columns. On PlaySoli, a row cannot be dealt while any column is empty. It is not a redeal because the cards have not already passed through play.

Rules and game outcomes

Legal move

A legal move satisfies every applicable rule at the moment it is made: card availability, rank relation, color or suit condition, destination restriction, and group capacity.

Legal does not mean strategically good. Moving a FreeCell card into the fourth occupied cell may be legal while destroying the workspace needed for the next transfer.

Illegal move

An illegal move violates at least one rule. Examples:

• 7♣ onto 8♠ in Klondike: rank is correct, color is not.
• Q♦ into an empty Klondike column: only a King-led move is allowed.
• 7♠–6♥ as a Spider group: the ranks descend, but the moving group is not one suit.
• a six-card FreeCell sequence with insufficient workspace: internal order may be correct, capacity is not.

Primitive move

A primitive move is the smallest legal action defined by the rules, usually moving one card. The distinction is useful in FreeCell: a displayed group move can be a compact animation of many primitive moves.

Automatic move

An automatic move is performed by the interface after a condition is met, such as turning an exposed face-down card or removing a complete Spider run. Automation implements a consequence; it should not be mistaken for a different physical-card rule.

Winning condition

The winning condition states what must be completed:

• Klondike: all cards on four suited Ace-to-King foundations.
• FreeCell: all cards on four suited Ace-to-King foundations.
• Spider: eight same-suit King-to-Ace runs removed.

Winnable or solvable deal

A deal is winnable or solvable if at least one legal path reaches the winning condition under the exact rules and information model. This is not the same as a human player’s win rate or a solver’s measured success rate. See Is solitaire always winnable?.

Undo

Undo reverses one or more interface actions. Whether unlimited undo is available is a product feature, not a traditional card rule. A study using undo may measure learning or search behavior rather than unaided first-attempt performance.

Hint

A hint points to an available action chosen by the software. It normally certifies legality, not optimality. A hint system may prefer the first move it finds, a heuristic move, or a scripted tutorial action.

Historical family names

Patience

The traditional English family name for one-player card layouts, still common in British usage. Historical sources also contain social or alternating-player contexts, so the word should be interpreted within its period 10.

Solitaire

The broad modern English family name, especially in American usage. It may also refer specifically to Klondike when no variant is stated.

Réussite

A French term associated with a successful outcome and commonly used for card solitaire. It should usually remain a natural local term in French localization rather than being replaced mechanically with English solitaire 10.

Cabale / Kabale

Historical French/German terms connected with secret knowledge or divination. They are relevant to origin hypotheses but do not prove that all patience games began as fortune-telling 10.

Common terminology traps

Calling the waste a discard pile

The cards have not left the game. Use waste in rules copy and mention “discard pile” only as a reader synonym.

Saying “same color” when the rule is “same suit”

Hearts and diamonds share a color but are different suits. Spider group movement and foundation building depend on suit, not merely color.

Calling every descending Spider stack a movable run

A mixed-suit descending stack can be legal as a column arrangement while remaining immovable as a group. Reserve same-suit run for the unit that can move together.

Treating “deal” as only the opening action

Players also use deal for the resulting arrangement and for adding a Spider row. Clarify the meaning in the sentence.

Translating “Patience” literally in every locale

Game-family names are conventional vocabulary. The familiar local name matters more than the dictionary meaning of patience as a personal quality.

Frequently asked questions

Are tableau and foundation the same thing?

No. The tableau is the working area where cards are rearranged. Foundations are destination piles that satisfy the winning condition in games such as Klondike and FreeCell.

Is the stock the same as the waste?

No. The stock contains waiting cards. The waste contains Klondike cards already turned from the stock. Only its top exposed card is available.

What is the difference between a sequence and a run?

A sequence is any group ordered under a stated rule. A run is a connected ordered group; PlaySoli uses “same-suit run” for Spider’s movable and completable structures. Some sources use the words interchangeably, so context controls.

Does “build down” mean alternate colors?

Not by itself. “Build down” specifies rank direction only. Klondike and FreeCell add an alternating-color condition; Spider permits single-card building across suits.

Why is a face-up card sometimes unavailable?

Another card may cover it, it may be below the top of the waste, or it may belong to a group that lacks legal movement capacity. Visibility and availability are different properties.

Is a supermove a special FreeCell rule?

It is an interface shortcut for a sequence of legal one-card moves through available cells and columns. It does not create unlimited group movement.

What does redeal mean in Draw 3?

After a stock pass ends, the waste is made available as stock for another pass. On PlaySoli, Draw 3 permits unlimited passes, but only the top available waste card can be played during each visit.

What is a talon?

A historical and regional term usually referring to undealt or turned cards. Because its meaning varies, PlaySoli English copy prefers the more specific stock and waste labels.

Is Patience a different game from Solitaire?

Usually they are overlapping family names rather than two fixed rule sets. “Solitaire” can also mean Klondike in American usage. The exact game must still be named.

Keep exploring

• How to play the main PlaySoli games
• How legal moves work
• Patience, Solitaire, Réussite, and Cabale
• FreeCell supermove terminology and calculation
• Physical-card setup and vocabulary

Sources used

• 2 PlaySoli — Klondike Draw 1.
• 3 PlaySoli — Klondike Draw 3.
• 4 PlaySoli — Spider One Suit.
• 5 PlaySoli — Spider Two Suits.
• 6 PlaySoli — Spider Four Suits.
• 7 PlaySoli — FreeCell.
• 10 David Parlett — historical names and classification.
• 18 Lady Adelaide Cadogan — period terminology and diagrams.
• 32 Michael Keller — solitaire bibliography.
• 33 Michael Keller — FreeCell technical reference.