noun
canasta
kuh-NAS-tuh/kəˈnæstə/
A card game in which sets of seven matching ranks are formed.
The players form matching sets during a lively game of canasta.
Etymology
Spanish “basket” may evoke the card-playing image of “weaving the cards” into a meld. In the game, a canasta is a set of seven cards of the same rank.
In context
Canasta is played with two decks
More examples
- She completed a canasta with seven cards of the same rank.
- We learned canasta from our grandparents.
- Two decks were shuffled together for canasta.
Forms
canasta · canastas
Similar words
- rummy
- A broader family of melding card games, while canasta uses its own seven-card meld rules.