noun
patience
A card game played by one person.
She plays patience at the kitchen table after dinner.
Etymology
The card game takes its name from the quality of patient persistence. Playing through the cards alone calls for repeated, unhurried attention.
More examples
- A game of patience keeps him busy on rainy afternoons.
- I shuffle the deck before starting another game of patience.
- Even a carefully played game of patience can end in defeat.
Forms
patience
Similar words
- solitaire
- The usual American name for this kind of card game.