whist

whist, card game for four players, those on opposite sides of the table being partners. The full pack of 52 cards is dealt. The dealer's last card is turned up to indicate trump, and after he draws this card in hand, the player on the left of the dealer leads. Cards rank from ace down through two, and the highest card of the suit or the highest trump wins the trick. Partners collect their tricks in one pile. Six tricks make a book, and each trick over the book in one game counts one point. The partners who first score seven points win. Famous variations include duplicate whist, bid whist, solo whist, and Norwegian whist. Whist originated in England, where it was a development of earlier games (e.g., triumph) that were known in the 16th cent. In 1742, Edmond Hoyle published A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist, but it was Henry Jones (pseud. Cavendish) who first compiled (1862) a complete system of scientific whist play. The game spread to other European countries in the 19th cent., and tournaments were organized. Whist gave rise in the late 19th cent. to the game of bridge, which quickly surpassed the parent game in popularity.

---

whist

Card game. It belongs to a family that includes bridge whist and bridge, each of which developed in succession from the original game of whist. The essential features of card games in the whist family are: four people usually play, two against two as partners; a full 52-card deck is dealt out evenly so that each player holds 13 cards; the object of play is to win tricks, and win or loss is determined by the number of tricks taken (as distinct from games such as pinochle, in which it is determined by the value of card points taken in tricks). Whist originated in 17th-century England.

---

whist

a card game for four in which the two sides try to win the balance of the 13 tricks: forerunner of bridge