Mahjong Glossary
Mahjong Solitaire leans on the same handful of words no matter which layout you play: free tile, matching pair, layer, layout. Once you know them, the rules for any board read like plain English. This glossary defines the terms and the tiles you will meet across the whole game, from the friendly Turtle to the tricky corners of the Tower and Cross.
If you are brand new, skim this page before the rules. You do not need to memorize anything, just get a feel for the vocabulary, then read the full Mahjong rules or the FAQ and the words will already make sense. Each term below has its own link, so other pages can point straight to a definition.
💡 Tip: Learn the two core ideas first - a free tile (uncovered, with an open side) and a matching pair. Almost every rule you read is built from those two.
Core play terms
Free tile
A tile you are allowed to select. A tile is free when nothing is stacked on top of it and at least one of its left or right long sides is open. Only free tiles can be matched, so learning to spot them is the whole game.
Blocked tile
A tile that cannot be selected yet. It is blocked if another tile covers it, or if tiles touch both its left and right sides at once. Clear a neighbor or the tile above it and a blocked tile becomes free.
Covered tile
A tile with another tile resting on top of it, even partly. A covered tile is always locked, no matter how open its sides are, until whatever sits on it is removed.
Open side (open edge)
A left or right long edge with no tile touching it. A single open side is enough to free a tile, as long as nothing covers it. Tiles touching only the top or bottom edge do not block a tile.
Matching pair
The two identical free tiles you remove together. Most tiles need an exact twin, but Flowers and Seasons match more loosely within their own groups. Every move removes exactly one pair.
Pair
Two tiles that match. A full board of 144 tiles is 72 pairs, so a completed game always removes 72 matches. See how many pairs there are.
Free foursome
All four copies of the same tile free at the same time. When this happens there is usually no reason to wait, remove both pairs right away to open up the board.
Match
The act of removing a pair, and also the pair itself. "Take this match" means select two matching free tiles to clear them from the board.
The layout
Layer
One level of the stack. Tiles are built up in layers, and a tile in a higher layer covers the tiles beneath it. The Turtle rises five layers at its center; the Tower reaches seven.
Layout
The shape the tiles are arranged in, such as the Turtle, Pyramid or Dragon. The rules never change between layouts, only the shape, which decides how many tiles are free at once and how deeply they hide.
Board
The whole arrangement of tiles in a single game. "Clear the board" means remove every tile. Every board on Mahjong.now is built solvable.
Peak
The highest point of a layout, the crowning tile or tiles at the top of the stack. The peak is free early, but the tiles buried directly beneath it are usually the last to open.
The Turtle
The classic Mahjong Solitaire layout: 144 tiles piled into a wide, symmetric mound said to resemble a turtle's shell, five layers tall in the middle. Some sets call the identical shape the Dragon.
Spine (ridge)
A raised line of stacked tiles running along the top of a layout, most obvious on the Dragon. The spine hides pairs that only open as you thin the tiles beside it.
The mahjong tiles
Tile
A single playing piece, engraved with a suit number, an honor, or a bonus picture. A standard set has 144 tiles in 42 different designs.
Suit
One of the three numbered families of tiles: Circles, Bamboo and Characters. Each suit runs 1 to 9 with four copies of every number, making 108 suit tiles in all.
Circles (Dots)
The suit covered in round coins or dots, numbered 1 to 9. Also called Dots or Balls. A Circles tile matches only another Circles tile of the same number.
Bamboo
The suit showing bamboo sticks, numbered 1 to 9. The Bamboo 1 is often drawn as a bird rather than a stick. Also called Bams or Sticks.
Characters
The suit marked with a Chinese number character above the symbol for ten thousand, numbered 1 to 9. Also called Craks or Wan. It matches only an identical Character.
Honor tiles
The tiles that carry no number: the four Winds and three Dragons. Like the suits, honor tiles match only their exact twin. See Wind and Dragon tiles.
Winds
The four direction tiles: East, South, West and North, four copies each, for 16 Wind tiles. An East Wind pairs only with another East Wind.
Dragons
The three honor tiles: Red, Green and White, four copies each, for 12 Dragon tiles. The White Dragon is often a blank or plainly framed tile.
Flowers
Four bonus tiles, usually Plum, Orchid, Chrysanthemum and Bamboo blossoms. Unlike other tiles they do not need an exact twin: any Flower matches any other Flower.
Seasons
Four bonus tiles showing Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Like Flowers, they match loosely: any Season matches any other Season. See Flower and Season tiles.
Bonus tiles
The eight Flowers and Seasons together. They are the only tiles that match within a group rather than needing an identical twin, which makes them flexible, friendly pairs.
Getting unstuck
Shuffle
A helper that rearranges the tiles still on the board into a fresh pattern when you run out of moves. On Mahjong.now the reshuffled board stays solvable, so a gridlock does not have to end your game.
Hint
A helper that highlights one legal pair of free tiles you can remove right now. It shows a single option at a time, so it is a nudge, not a walkthrough. If a hint finds nothing, you have likely hit a dead board.
Undo
To take back your last match. Undo turns a game into something you can study: rewind a move that got you stuck and try a different order. It is a built-in tool, not cheating.
Dead board
A gridlock: tiles remain on the board, but no two free tiles match, so there is no legal move left. On a solvable board it means a wrong turn, which Shuffle or Undo can fix. See what a dead board is.
Solvable board
A board that can be cleared with the right sequence of matches. Every layout here is generated solvable, so a loss is a puzzle you could have cracked, never an impossible deal.
Daily board
A single shared board that everyone plays on the same day, built from the date so every player gets identical tiles. Compare your time on the Daily Challenge.
That is the core vocabulary of Mahjong Solitaire. Keep this glossary open in a tab the first few times you try a new layout, and the terms will stick fast. Ready to put them to use? Jump into the classic Turtle, or browse the full lineup on the all layouts page.