Euchre Terms Glossary

Every Euchre term explained — from bowers to going alone.

Updated September 25, 2026

Bower

One of the two jacks that become the top trump cards when a suit is named. From the German "Bauer" (farmer/jack). The right bower is highest, the left bower second.

Right Bower

The jack of the trump suit — the single highest card in the hand. If hearts are trump, the J♥ is the right bower and beats everything.

Example: Spades trump → the J♠ is the right bower.

Left Bower

The jack of the other suit of the same color as trump. It is the second-highest card and counts as trump, not as its printed suit.

Example: Hearts trump → the J♦ is the left bower and plays as a heart, not a diamond.

Trump

The suit that beats all others for the hand, chosen during bidding. In Euchre trump has 7 cards: the two bowers plus the ace, king, queen, 10, and 9 of the trump suit.

Upcard

The card turned face up from the top of the kitty after the deal, also called the turn card. Its suit is the proposed trump for round one of bidding.

Kitty

The four cards left over after the deal. The top one is turned face up as the upcard; the rest stay face down and out of play.

Pick It Up

Ordering up the upcard in round one — a player tells the dealer to “pick it up,” or the dealer takes it themselves. Either way the dealer adds the upcard to their hand and discards one card face down.

Assist

What the dealer’s partner traditionally says when ordering the upcard into the dealer’s hand. Under the Canadian loner rule, the dealer’s partner can only order it up by going alone.

Example: Dealer’s partner: “I assist.”

Turn Down

What happens to the upcard when all four players pass in round one. The turned-down suit cannot be named as trump in round two.

Discard

The card the dealer lays face down after picking up the upcard, to get back to five cards. Dealers often discard a lone off-suit card to create a void.

Order Up

To accept the upcard's suit as trump during round one. If the dealer is ordered up (or orders it up themselves), the dealer takes the upcard into hand and discards one card.

Example: "I'll order it up" makes the upcard suit trump.

Pass

To decline naming trump on your turn during either bidding round. If all four players pass in round one, the upcard is turned down and round two begins.

Maker

The player who names trump (and their partner). The makers are committed to winning at least 3 of the 5 tricks or they get euchred.

Defenders

The team that did not name trump. Their goal is to hold the makers below 3 tricks and score a euchre.

Euchre

The result when the makers fail to take 3 tricks, also called setting them. The defenders score 2 points.

March

Taking all 5 tricks as the makers. A march scores 2 points (or 4 if the maker went alone).

Going Alone / Loner

When the maker plays without their partner, who sits out with cards face down. A successful lone hand that takes all 5 tricks scores 4 points — the biggest single-hand swing in Euchre.

Lay-Down

A hand that will take all five tricks if played in the right order — the kind of hand a player usually takes alone.

Defend Alone

A house rule that lets a defender play alone against the makers. A lone defender who euchres the makers scores 4 points instead of 2.

Canadian Loner

A rule common in Canada: if the dealer’s partner orders up the upcard, they must play alone, and the dealer sits out the hand.

Trick

One round of play in which each active player contributes one card. Five tricks make up a hand. The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump is played.

Follow Suit

The requirement to play a card of the suit that was led if you hold one. Remember the left bower counts as trump, not as its printed suit, when deciding whether you can follow.

Lead

To play the first card of a trick. The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick; afterward the winner of each trick leads the next.

Eldest Hand

The player to the dealer's left. Eldest bids first and leads the first trick, an advantageous seat.

Stick the Dealer

A popular rule requiring the dealer to name a suit if all other players pass twice — the dealer cannot pass in round two. It keeps every hand in play. Also called screw the dealer.

Throw-In

A hand abandoned because all four players passed in both rounds of bidding, when stick the dealer isn’t played. The cards are redealt and the deal passes to the left.

Next

Calling the other suit of the same color as a turned-down upcard in round two. Because the rejected suit's bowers are likely scattered, "Next" often puts the bowers on the caller's side.

Example: A turned-down diamond → calling hearts is "Next."

Crossing / Reverse Next

Calling a suit of the opposite color to the turned-down upcard. Generally weaker than Next, so it is reserved for hands genuinely loaded in that off-color suit.

Void

Holding no cards of a particular suit. Being void lets you trump in when that suit is led — a key tool for both makers and defenders.

Off-Suit Ace

An ace in a non-trump suit. It wins a trick only once trump has been pulled, so makers usually cash off-suit aces late in the hand.

Renege

Illegally failing to follow suit when able (strictly, a revoke). The usual penalty is 2 points to the other team. A common beginner renege is treating the left bower as its printed suit instead of as trump.

Misdeal

A deal that has to be redone, usually because a card was exposed during the deal or a player got the wrong number of cards.

Farmer’s Hand

A house rule for a hand of nothing but 9s and 10s. Depending on the table, the player can call for a redeal or swap three cards for the face-down kitty cards.

Joker / Benny

An extra card some Euchre games add as the highest trump, above the right bower — the Benny in British Euchre, once called the best bower. The joker was first added to card packs for Euchre, in the 1850s.

Cutthroat

Three-handed Euchre. Everyone plays for themselves, and each hand the maker plays alone against the other two.

Also play Sheepshead? Sheepshead vs Euchre — how the two games compare. · Sheepshead Glossary — terms for Wisconsin’s classic.