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Glite Dictionary
short whist

short whist

9.9
A card game for four people in two teams where you win points by taking tricks, played to five points
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : whist corto
  • Unlike the original version, short whist is played to five points, making the games quicker.

Examples

  • They gathered around the table to play a lively game of short whist.

  • Many Victorian novels mention short whist as a common evening pastime.

  • They played short whist every Friday night.

  • Do you know how to play short whist?

  • They gathered around the table to play a lively game of short whist.

  • Many Victorian novels mention short whist as a common evening pastime.

  • Unlike the original version, short whist is played to five points, making the games quicker.

Synonyms

whist
vsshort whist
  • Archaic
3 8.9

A card game for four people in two teams where players win tricks to score points

is the same game but uses an added descriptive word

Surface Forms

short whist singular
short whists plural

Morphology

short + whist

The phrase 'short whist' is directly compositional: the adjective 'short' modifies the noun 'whist' to indicate a shorter or shorter-duration version of the card game. This adjective + noun pattern is a standard, cross-linguistic way to mark a variant, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Short whist comes from the old card game whist, with short showing the match was played to fewer points. Players in two teams won points for each hand, so a short whist was a 'quicker game'.