euchre

[yoo-ker] /ˈyu kər/
noun
1.
Cards. a game played by two, three, or four persons, usually with the 32, but sometimes with the 28 or 24, highest cards in the pack.
2.
an instance of euchring or being euchred.
verb (used with object), euchred, euchring.
3.
to get the better of (an opponent) in a hand at euchre by the opponent's failure to win three tricks after having made the trump.
4.
Slang. to cheat; swindle.
Origin
1835-45, Americanism; origin uncertain
Examples from the web for euchre
  • euchre will play eight hands with each table partner.
  • It also permits patrons to serve as dealers in euchre games.
  • Visitors to the site now have a choice of matching their skills at everything from euchre to crosswords.
  • The affair was a progressive euchre party and greatly enjoyed by all who were present.
British Dictionary definitions for euchre

euchre

/ˈjuːkə/
noun
1.
a US and Canadian card game similar to écarté for two to four players, using a poker pack with joker
2.
an instance of euchring another player, preventing him from making his contracted tricks
verb (transitive)
3.
to prevent (a player) from making his contracted tricks
4.
(usually foll by out) (US & Canadian, Austral & NZ, informal) to outwit or cheat
5.
(Austral & NZ, informal) to ruin or exhaust
Word Origin
C19: of unknown origin
Word Origin and History for euchre
n.

card game, 1846, American English, of unknown origin.

Slang definitions & phrases for euchre

euchre

verb

To outwit, esp by cheating; scam (1855+)


Encyclopedia Article for euchre

card game popular in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Great Britain, especially in Cornwall and the West Country of England. It derives from a 19th-century Alsatian game called juckerspiel from the fact that its two top trumps are Jucker, meaning "jack." This word may also have influenced the choice of the term joker for the extra card introduced into American euchre in the 1860s to act as the "best bower," or topmost trump; bower is from German Bauer, literally "farmer" but also meaning "jack." Euchre is therefore the game for which the joker was invented-the joker being, in effect, a glorified jack

Learn more about euchre with a free trial on Britannica.com