mah jong

noun

1. a game of Chinese origin usually played by four persons with 144 dominolike pieces or tiles marked in suits, counters, and dice, the object being to build a winning combination of pieces.

verb (used without object)

2. to win a game of mah-jongg.

noun

1. a game of Chinese origin, usually played by four people, in which tiles bearing various designs are drawn and discarded until one player has an entire hand of winning combinations

n.1922, from dialectal Chinese (Shanghai) ma chiang, name of the game, literally “sparrows,” from ma “hemp” + chiang “little birds.” The game so called from the design of the pieces. It had a vogue in Europe and the U.S. in the 1920s and for a time threatened to supplant bridge in popularity.