Pinochle Glossary — every term explained

The most common Pinochle terms, explained simply.

Auction: The bidding phase where players bid points or pass; three passes end it.
Bid: The number of points (50 minimum, +1 to 60, then ×5) the bidding team must reach with meld and tricks.
Meld: Declared combinations (runs, marriages, pinochles, arounds) shown after the auction; counts only if the team wins a trick.
Run: A-10-K-Q-J of trump: 15 points, 150 for a double run.
Marriage: King and Queen of the same suit: 4 in trump (royal marriage), 2 in a side suit.
Pinochle: Jack of Diamonds plus Queen of Spades: 4 points; double pinochle 30.
Arounds: One card of a rank in each suit: aces 10, kings 8, queens 6, jacks 4 (doubles ×10).
Crawl: The obligation to beat the highest card so far when following suit — even over your partner.
Trump: The suit named by the high bidder; its cards beat all others. Must contain a K+Q marriage in the bidder's hand.
Counter: A card worth points in tricks: ace, 10 and king count 1 each; queen and jack count nothing.
Set: Failing the bid: the bidding team scores nothing and the bid is subtracted from their score.
Thrown in: Naming a trump without holding a marriage: the hand is not played and the bid is lost.
Trick: One round of four cards won by the highest trump or the highest card of the led suit; 20 tricks per deal.