From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Vingt et un \Vingt` et` un"\ [F., twenty and one.]
A game at cards, played by two or more persons. The fortune
of each player depends upon obtaining from the dealer such
cards that the sum of their pips, or spots, is twenty-one, or
a number near to it; -- also called {blackjack}, or
{twenty-one}.
Note: There are several variations (such as {Caribbean
blackjack}). In the most common variation played in
casinos, there is one dealer who plays for the house,
and up to seven players. The players and dealer each
receive two cards, the dealer's cards usually being one
face up and one face down. The players each in turn
decide whether they will request additional cards
("hit"), the objective being to reach a sum of card
values as close as possible to twenty-one, without
exceeding that number. If, on hitting, the player's
total card values exceed 21, he has "busted", and lost
his bet. Otherwise, the player wins only if his total
card values exceed those of the dealer. "picture cards"
(or "face cards", being the jack, queen, and king) are
counted as having a value of ten. The ace may count as
one or eleven, at the player's option. Other than to
hit, there are also other possible actions by the
player, such as to "double down" (receive only one
additional card, while doubling the initial bet), or to
"split" (if the first two cards have the same value).
[1913 Webster +PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
twenty-one
adj 1: being one more than twenty [syn: {twenty-one}, {21},
{xxi}]
n 1: the cardinal number that is the sum of twenty and one [syn:
{twenty-one}, {21}, {XXI}]
2: a gambling game using cards; the object is to hold cards
having a higher count than those dealt to the banker up to
but not exceeding 21 [syn: {blackjack}, {twenty-one}, {vingt-
et-un}]
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