Billiards Vault

Definition of Whitewash

Principally British: In snooker, if a player wins all of the required frames in a match without conceding a frame to their opponent - for example, if a player wins a best-of-nine-frame match with a score of 5-0 - this is referred to as a "whitewash". This term is based on a similar term used in the card game of "patience" in the UK. However, it is not used in the context of a 1-0 winning scoreline in a match consisting of a single frame.

24 Random Essential Billiards Terms

British: Same as cling, and kick.
A cluster of balls. In snooker, the bunch of reds that are typically left below the pink spot in the early stages of a frame, not including those reds that have been released into pottable positions.
This is a timing device for monitoring and restricting shot times for a player.
Same as duck. Derives from an easily shot ball "hanging" in the pocket.
Anything that causes a foul according to the rules of a game.
Also money-added. Said of a tournament in which the pot of money to pay out to the winner(s) contains sponsor monies in addition to competitor entry fees. Often used as an adjective: "a money-added event".
This is a special shaped leather or plastic bottle that is used on the table during play in special pocket games.
In snooker and other British usages, a break of 50-99 points (100 points or more being called a century), which involves potting at least 12 consecutive balls (i.e. the last 3 reds with at least 2 blacks and a pink, followed by all the colours).
Either of the two shorter rails of a billiards or pocket billiards table.
This is a fine powdery substance used to assist the sliding of the cue over the hand bridge.
Refers to a person gambling when he has no money. As in, "That jerk can't pay up, he was shooting air barrels the whole time".
A ball positioned near a pocket so that a particularly positioned object ball shot at that pocket will likely go in off it, even if aimed so imperfectly that if the warrior was absent, the shot would likely result in a miss. Usually arises when a ball is being banked to a pocket.
Deviation of a ball from its initial direction of travel. Often the result of a poor-quality table and may be an artifact of the cloth, the bed, a ball with uneven weight distribution, or simply the floor the table stands on being uneven.
Australian: Defeated with all seven of one's object balls (in blackball or eight-ball) remaining on the table.
A very thin cut shot in which the cue ball just brushes the edge of an object ball. "Feather" by itself can be both noun and verb (e.g. "feathering the ball").
Same as follow (top spin).
Describes lucky or unlucky "rolls" of the cue ball; "I had good rolls all night; "that was a bad roll." However, when said without an adjective ascribing good or bad characteristics to it, "roll" usually refers to a positive outcome such as in "he got a roll".
The roll: same as the lag.
(noun) An opening in a table, cut partly into the bed and partly into the rails and their cushions, into which balls are shot (pocketed or potted).
(verb) Send a ball into a pocket, usually intentionally.
A shooter's body position and posture during a shot.
This is the act of looking over the stack, pile of balls in the middle of the table, to see if there are any opportunities in the game of one pocket.
This is a low bet in a game with action.
Carambole billiards is a French billiards game involving two cue balls and a single red object ball. The purpose of carambole billiards is to obtain points by contacting the object ball and the opponent's cue ball in the same shot.
This is the ball that sits in the front, or apex, position in the rack.
The material which covers the bed and cushions of a pool table. The cloth used to cover a pool table is very special and can come in a variety of grades. Along with the general quality of the table itself, the cloth play a very important role in how a particular table plays.