blackjack

IPA/ˈblækdʒæk/
KK[blˈækdʒˌæk]IPA/ˈblækdʒæk/

blackjack — noun

  • blackjacksingular
  • blackjacksplural

1. a popular casino card game where each player tries to make their hand of cards a

1.noun
Definition

a popular casino card game where each player tries to make their hand of cards add up as close as possible to twenty-one, but never higher, in order to beat the dealer.

Example

Fadi learned to play blackjack on a cheap deck at his grandfather's kitchen table.

play + blackjack (uncountable, no article)

Bram won eighty dollars at blackjack during her first night at the casino in Macau.

win at blackjack

Common collocations
  • play blackjack
  • win at blackjack
  • lose at blackjack
  • blackjack table
  • blackjack dealer
  • online blackjack
Synonyms
  • twenty-one

    another name for the same game, slightly old-fashioned in casinos.

  • pontoon

    British home version with slightly different rules; not used in casinos.

Grammar Patterns

play blackjack

win/lose at blackjack

Usage Note

Uncountable as a game name, so it takes no article in 'play blackjack' — just like 'play chess' or 'play poker'. The phrase 'a blackjack' would refer to the weapon (sense 2), not the game.

Common Mistakes

I played a blackjack last night.
I played blackjack last night.
game names are uncountable; do not use 'a' before them.
She is good in blackjack.
She is good at blackjack.
use 'at' for skills and games, not 'in'.

2. a small heavy club, often a metal core wrapped tightly in leather or rubber, wit

2.noun
Definition

a small heavy club, often a metal core wrapped tightly in leather or rubber, with a short bendy grip, swung to hit another person.

Example

The detective found a leather blackjack hidden under the front seat of the suspect's car.

noun phrase: a/the + blackjack

In old American films, gangsters often knocked guards out cold with a blackjack.

knock (someone) out with a blackjack

Common collocations
  • a leather blackjack
  • carry a blackjack
  • swing a blackjack
  • hit someone with a blackjack
Synonyms
  • cosh

    British equivalent; same weapon, different word.

  • club

    broader word; any heavy stick used to hit, not specifically the leather-covered kind.

  • truncheon

    longer wooden or rubber stick carried by police, especially British.

Grammar Patterns

hit/strike (someone) with a blackjack

Usage Note

Mainly American English; British speakers more often say 'cosh'. The weapon is small enough to hide in a coat pocket, which is why it appears so often in old crime stories.

Common Mistakes

He carried a blackjack stick.
He carried a blackjack.
'blackjack' alone already names the weapon; adding 'stick' is redundant.

blackjack — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All five verbs describe pushing someone into action against their will, but the tone differs sharply. 'Coerce' is the formal, neutral choice — common in laws and reports ('coerced into signing a confession'). 'Blackjack' and 'strong-arm' are vivid American informal verbs that picture aggressive, even threatening, pressure; 'blackjack' carries an extra hint of crime or politics ('blackjacked into selling the family farm'). 'Bully' is broader and more emotional, often about repeated unkind pressure on someone weaker, especially in schools or workplaces ('bullied her into quitting'). 'Pressure' is the mildest and most everyday word, with no automatic suggestion of threat ('my parents pressured me into law school'). Choose 'coerce' for serious writing, 'pressure' for ordinary conversation, and 'blackjack' or 'strong-arm' when you want to colour the act as ugly and forceful.

blackjack ↗coerce ↗strong-arm ↗bully ↗pressure ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • blackjack table
  • blackjack dealer
  • blackjack player
  • leather blackjack

Adverbs

  • openly blackjack
  • effectively blackjack

Phrases

  • play blackjack
  • carry a blackjack
  • be blackjacked into doing something

Prepositions

  • blackjack into
  • blackjacked by
  • win at blackjack
  • lose at blackjack

Etymology

Middle EnglishEarly Modern EnglishAmerican English

The word 'blackjack' joins the simple colour 'black' with 'jack', an old English word for an ordinary man, a tool, or a small object. From the 16th century English speakers used 'blackjack' for various dark, leather-covered objects, including a tar-coated drinking cup. By the 19th century in America the same word was attached to the small leather-covered weapon, probably because of its dark colour and its 'handy' nature. The card-game sense, recorded from the late 1800s, points to the original payout: a player who drew the jack of spades or clubs (both black) alongside the ace of spades won a special bonus. The verb 'to blackjack', meaning to force or threaten, grew naturally from the weapon sense in early 20th-century American English.