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Glite Dictionary
🥞 A pancake 🃏 A card game
slapjack

slapjack

6.2
A card game where players try to be first to slap the pile when a jack appears
  • noun
  • /ˈslæpˌdʒæk/
  • US
translation icon : slapjack
  • Slapjack, Dylan only knew the one game, unless you counted fifty-two pick-up, which was why the cards were all over the living room floor.

Examples

  • NIGHT: Dignan and Bob are playing slapjack with Carmen and Anita.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • At the family gathering, we enjoyed a lively game of slapjack whenever a jack was played.

  • The kids laughed and cheered as they played slapjack, eagerly waiting for the jacks to emerge.

  • Whenever a jack appeared, the players swiftly slapped the pile in a fun game of slapjack.

Surface Forms

slapjack singular
slapjacks plural

Morphology

slapjack = slap + jack (transparent) = slap + jack

The name directly evokes slapping when a jack appears, so the compound is easy to interpret from its parts.

Etymology

The word slapjack for the card game comes from the two simple words slap and jack. Slap means 'to hit quickly' and jack is 'a playing card', so the name tells you to hit the pile when a jack appears.