penuchle

penuchle or pe·nuck·le [pee-nuhk-uh l] noun

1. pinochle.

pinochle [pee-nuhk-uh l, -nok-] noun

1. a popular card game played by two, three, or four persons, with a 48-card deck.
2. a meld of the queen of spades and the jack of diamonds in this game.

Also penuchle, penuckle, pi·noc·le. Origin of pinochle 1860–65, Americanism; Swiss German Binokel, Binoggel Swiss French binocle literally, pince-nez (see binocle1), probably adopted as synonym of the less current French besicles spectacles, folk-etymological alteration of bezigue bezique British Dictionary definitions for penuckle penuchle penuckle noun

1. less common spellings of pinochle

pinochle penuchle, penuckle or pinocle noun

1. a card game for two to four players similar to bezique
2. the combination of queen of spades and jack of diamonds in this game

Word Origin for pinochle C19: of unknown origin Word Origin and History for penuckle pinochle n.

also pinocle, 1864, Peaknuckle, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Swiss dialect Binokel (German), binocle (French), from French binocle “pince-nez” (17c.), from Medieval Latin binoculus “binoculars” (see binocular). Taken as a synonym for bésigue “bezique,” the card game, and wrongly identified with besicles “spectacles,” probably because the game is played with a double deck. Pinochle was popularized in U.S. late 1800s by German immigrants.