royal flush
4
5.3
- noun
- /ˈrɔɪəl flʌʃ/
:
escalera real
- They'll play Caribbean Stud, where there is a $100,000 payoff if you get a royal flush.
- draw a royal flush
- get a royal flush
That's why you can always get a royal flush if you get the right hand.
- That's why you can always get a royal flush if you get the right hand.
Examples
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Well, well, well, a royal flush !
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In your honor, a royal flush.
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That's why you can always get a royal flush if you get the right hand.
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We're mad because he folded a royal flush so that he could play with two pair.
Blog text (2) -
Because all the chips are riding on him—they went all-in hoping to draw to a royal flush, the unbeatable hand.
Blog text (31) -
To win the tournament, he needed to draw a royal flush, the highest hand in poker.
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In poker, getting a royal flush is a rare achievement that every player dreams of.
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If you are dealt a royal flush, you can be sure that you'll win the game.
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a compositional noun phrase: 'royal' (relating to kings/queens) modifies 'flush' (a five-card same-suit poker hand), so a learner who knows both words can infer a flush made of the 'royal' cards (A, K, Q, J, 10) and therefore understand it as the highest possible flush. The term is not idiomatic or metaphorical but a literal descriptive label within poker terminology, so its meaning is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The phrase royal flush comes from poker: a flush is five cards of the same suit, and 'royal' points to the top cards ace, king, queen, jack, and ten in that suit. So, holding those five royal cards together makes the best hand, which is why the term means 'the highest possible hand'.