Definition of Way

This is a bank in one pocket pool that is sitting at an angle that makes it unsafe to play.

National Amateur Pool League.

To enter the loser bracket in a double elimination tournament, or otherwise slip in standing in other tournament formats (i.e., to lose a game/frame/round/match, but still remain in the competition).

Also smalls, small ones, small balls. In eight-ball, to be shooting the solid suit (group) of balls (1 through 7); "you're the small one" or "I've got the smalls". Compare little, solids, reds, low, spots, dots, unders; contrast big.

Same as break.

This refers to the cluster of balls remaining in a similar position to where they were within the break.

This is any game of pool played with money on the line. You can "put some action" on the game.

During a set if the opponent does not win a single game, they are said to have been skunked.

In APA, once a player has received at least 10 scores in a format, they will have established their skill level. Their established skill level can go up or down depending on their performance and is calculated by the APA's Equalizer Handicap System.

This is the raised portion on the side of the table; the cushions are essentially rubber bumpers covered in the table cloth.

The tip of your cue is the smallest but most important piece on all of the stick. Ranging between 12 mm and 14 mm depending on the taper of you shaft, the average and most common tip size is 13 mm. The tip is usually made from treated and compressed leather and is attached at the top of your cue by screw or glue to the ferrule. There are variances in cue tip resistance from soft to hard. The softer offering more chalk retention, and the harder offering more longevity and power transferred through your shot (the hardest, phenolic tips are often used on the break). Because the surface of the tip is beveled it offers you control on the spin and direction of the cue ball in your shot. To keep this control, it is important to scuff up the surface of your cue a little so as to enhance the chalk retention potential. In addition to keeping you tip chalked, you want avoid it mushrooming over the ends of the ferrule after too many impacts without refinement. To much use, and not enough care with proper tools can hinder your ability to master the control from your cue tip to your shot.

The 'Lady Jane Grey' is a rarely used term to describe a shot in the game of snooker. The cue ball is baulk side of the spotted black after potting a red ball. The black is powerfully potted into a top corner pocket and the cue ball bounces off the top cushion into the red balls, moving them into space, thus allowing the continuation of a break. Named after Lady Jane Grey, the 16th Century Queen of England, possibly because the speed the cue ball must be hit matches the speed with which she was deposed from the throne.

In the eight-ball game variant blackball, also known as eight-ball pool, a differently colored but otherwise identical replacement for the red group (i.e., what would be the solids in an American-style pool ball set).

Short for left english (side), i.e. spin imparted to the cue ball by stroking it to the lefthand side of its vertical axis. Contrast right.

A player who during the course of a tournament does not lose focus. Typically said of those players that regularly make it to the finals of a tournament.

This is a shot where the cue ball double kisses in order to direct the object ball toward the pocket.

Chiefly British: The rail at the Top of the table. Compare foot rail; contrast Bottom rail.

This shot refers to using heavy follow to push through an object ball on its way to its destination.

Common slang in the US for a cheap, poorly made cue. Compare wood.

A term used in snooker for the potting of all the balls that are racked at the beginning of the frame in a single break (run). The minimum total clearance affords 72 points (barring multiple reds being potted on a single stroke), in the pattern of red then yellow repeatedly until all reds are potted, then all of the colour balls. The maximum break is 147 (barring a foul by the opponent immediately before the break began).

This is a type of shot that is executed by an object ball caroming off of another object ball in order to gain the pocket.

When the contact between the cue ball and object ball is dead center.

Slang for a mechanical bridge.

Also Gentleman's call. An informal approach to the "call-everything" variation of call-shot, common in bar pool. Obvious shots, such as a straight-on or near-straight shot for which the shooter is clearly aiming and which could not be mistaken for another shot, need not be called. Bank shots, kicks, caroms and combinations are usually less obvious and generally must be called, though this may depend upon the mutual skill level and shot selection perception of the players. An opponent has the right to ask what the shooter's intention is, if this is unclear.