Hearts Glossary — What Every Term Means

The most common Hearts terms with short definitions, ordered roughly by how often you will meet them at the table.

Trick: One round of four cards, one from each player. The highest card of the suit that was led wins it, and its winner leads the next trick.
Lead: The first card played to a trick; it sets the suit everyone else must follow.
Follow suit: Playing a card of the suit that was led. Mandatory when you hold that suit; if you are void, you may discard anything.
Broken hearts: Hearts cannot be led until someone has discarded a heart on an earlier trick. That discard breaks hearts and allows hearts to be led afterwards.
Penalty card: A card that scores points against the player who captures it: every heart is 1 point, the Queen of Spades is 13.
The Black Lady (Q♠): The Queen of Spades, worth 13 penalty points — as much as all thirteen hearts combined.
Shoot the moon: Capturing all 26 penalty points in one hand. The shooter scores 0 while every other player adds 26 points.
Hold (hand): The fourth hand of the passing cycle, in which no cards are passed at all.
Ducking: Playing a card just below the current winner so you neither take the trick nor waste a high card.
Spade hunting: Leading low spades early to force out the A♠ and K♠, making the holder of the Q♠ play it under pressure.
The 2♣ opening: The player holding the 2 of clubs must lead it to the first trick; no penalty cards may be played to that trick.
Quick Play: A button that seats you with real players in seconds, no waiting room needed.
Room code: A short code that opens a private table you can share with friends.

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