fan-tan
Also fan tan .Also called parliament, sevens. Cards. a game in which the players play their sevens and other cards forming sequences in the same suits as their sevens, the winner being the player who first runs out of cards.
a Chinese gambling game in which a pile of coins, counters, or objects is placed under a bowl and bets are made on what the remainder will be after they have been counted off in fours.
Origin of fan-tan
1Words Nearby fan-tan
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use fan-tan in a sentence
He had just learned to play fan-tan with much the same skill he was wont to display at poker in more familiar climes.
Where the Pavement Ends | John RussellTaking your daughter into that nasty mess of Chinamen in the steerage, for instance, to watch them play fan-tan.
The Honorable Percival | Alice Hegan RiceThere, from a small quadrangular gallery, he could look down on the “well” of the fan-tan lay out below.
The Shadow | Arthur StringerHere cards are generally used instead of dice to separate the players from their money, fan-tan being the favorite game.
Where the Strange Trails Go Down | E. Alexander PowellI could not manage to make out exactly from the description what the game they play is like, but it was not fan-tan.
A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' | Annie Allnut Brassey
British Dictionary definitions for fan-tan
a Chinese gambling game in which a random number of counters are placed under a bowl and wagers laid on how many will remain after they have been divided by four
a card game played in sequence, the winner being the first to use up all his or her cards
Origin of fan-tan
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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