New to bingo terminology? Here's a quick-reference glossary of the terms you'll run into most.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ball | A single numbered ball drawn and called during a round. |
| Call | Announcing a drawn ball's number (and often its nickname) so players can mark it. |
| Card | The grid of numbers a player marks as balls are called; also called a "ticket" in 90-ball bingo. |
| Coverall (blackout) | A pattern that requires marking every number on the card. |
| Daub | Marking a called number on your card, traditionally with a dauber (ink stamp); "auto-daub" does this automatically online. |
| Free space | A pre-marked center cell on some cards (common in 75-ball) that counts toward any pattern. |
| Full house | The 90-ball term for completing every number on the card — the coverall equivalent. |
| Jackpot | A larger prize pool, often building over time or across rounds until it's won. |
| Line | A completed row, column, or diagonal of marked numbers. |
| Pattern | The specific shape or arrangement of marks that wins a round — a line, a shape, a block, or a coverall. |
| RNG | Random number generator — the mechanism that determines call order; a "provably fair" RNG lets players verify the draw wasn't tampered with after the fact. |
Want the deeper version of any of these? See types of bingo wins for pattern families, or how provably fair RNGs work.