Tarneeb Glossary
Every term you will hear at a Tarneeb table, in plain language — from the bid to the kaboot.
Tarneeb borrows words from across the Arab world, which is why the same idea can go by three names depending on who taught you the game. Here are the ones that matter, defined simply. Each is linked from the rules and strategy pages, so you can always check a word without losing your place.
Tarneeb
The trump suit, and the name of the game itself. From the Arabic طرنيب, meaning 'trump'. A card of the Tarneeb suit beats any card of another suit, however small.
Bid
A promise of how many tricks your team will win this round, from a minimum of 7 up to 13. The highest bidder names the trump suit and must then take at least that many tricks or lose the points.
Trick
One round of four cards, one from each player in turn. The highest card of the suit led wins it — unless someone plays a trump, in which case the highest trump wins. Thirteen tricks make a round.
Trump
The suit chosen by the winning bidder. Any trump beats any card of a non-trump suit. Also called the Tarneeb or, in some regions, the hokom.
Hokom (Hakam)
A Gulf name for the trump suit, and for the trump games in the same family. If someone calls the game 'hakam', they mean Tarneeb with a named trump.
Kaboot (Kabbout)
Taking all 13 tricks in a single round — a clean sweep of the table. A kaboot scores a fixed bonus; sweeping after bidding the maximum scores the most of all.
Set (Broken bid)
When the bidding team fails to take the number of tricks it promised. The bid is 'broken', and the team loses points equal to the bid instead of gaining them. Setting the bidders is the defenders' main goal.
Partnership
Tarneeb is played two against two. Partners sit across from each other and share one score. You cannot show each other your cards, so your leads and discards are how you communicate.
Lead
The first card played to a trick. The other three players must follow the led suit if they can. Choosing what to lead is one of the most important decisions in the game.
Follow suit
The rule that you must play a card of the suit that was led if you hold one. Only when you are void in the led suit may you trump it or throw a different suit away.
Void
Holding no cards of a particular suit. A void is powerful once you have trumps: when that suit is led, you are free to ruff it and win.
Ruff
Playing a trump on a trick because you cannot follow the suit that was led. A ruff wins the trick unless a later player ruffs higher.
Target score
The points a team needs to win the whole game — 31 in the standard version, though some house rules play to 41 or 61. It is reached over several rounds.
Sweep
Winning every remaining trick, or the bonus for doing so. The boldest version is bidding 13 and taking all 13 — the highest score in the game.