deadwood - describes any unmatched cards left with a player when the hand is finished
deal - describes the way cards are distributed at the start of each hand
dealer - the player who deals the cards out to all the players
deck - the pack of cards used. A standard deck for Rummy is a single 52 card deck that contains no jokers
discard - a player will discard an unwanted card at the end of each turn
discard pile - formed from all the players discarded cards
draw - involves taking a card from either the discard pile or the stock pile at the start of each turn
gin - to lay down all your cards at once (having no deadwood cards)
hand - each rummy game is made up of several rounds called a hand also refers to the cards in a players 'hand'
knock - to lay down all your cards that have been melded plus any deadwood. The deadwood cannot total more than 10 for it to be a valid knock
lay off - to reduce your deadwood total by adding cards to meld with an opponents meld
meld - refers to 3 or more cards of the same value or the same suite in consecutive order
penalty points - points given to each player for any remaining cards once the hand is finished. Each card is worth its face value
run - a meld of cards of the same suite that run in consecutive order e.g. 3,4,5,6 of hearts
sequence - a meld of cards of the same suite that run in consecutive order e.g. 3,4,5,6 of hearts
set - describes 3 or 4 cards of the same rank e.g. 9,9,9,9
stock - the remainder of the cards after dealing is laid face down on the table to form the stock pile from which cards can be drawn on each players turn
score - the amount of points gained for each player
target score - can be set before the start of each game. The winner is the first player to reach the target score
three hand meld - a hand made up of 3 melds
undercut - refers to Gin Rummy where a player who knocks has an equal or higher deadwood count than their opponent. A 20 point undercutting bonus is gained by the person with the lower deadwood count.