Darts Glossary

Arrows

Darts. "Playing arrows" is the same as playing darts, and a player may be called an arrowsmith.

Bag o' nuts

A score of 45 in a single visit. Named for a fairground prize once given for the score.

Barrel

The gripped metal body of the dart, between the point and the shaft. Usually brass, nickel-silver or tungsten.

Bed

A scoring segment. The 20 bed is the whole 20 segment; the treble bed is the narrow ring inside it.

Bed and Breakfast

A score of 26, from a single 20, single 5 and single 1 — the classic scattered visit. Named after the old two shillings and sixpence price.

Bogey number

A score below 171 with no three-dart finish: 169, 168, 166, 165, 163, 162 and 159.

Bounce out

A dart that hits a wire and rebounds off the board. It scores nothing and cannot be re-thrown.

Bull, bullseye

The centre of the board. The inner bull scores 50 and counts as a double; the outer bull scores 25 and counts as a single.

Bull-up

One dart each at the bull to decide who throws first. Closest to the centre starts.

Bust

A visit that scores more than you need, leaves exactly 1, or reaches zero without a double. The visit is void and your score reverts.

Checkout

The finishing combination that takes a player from their remaining score to exactly zero on a double.

Chucker

A player who throws without aiming carefully. Mildly insulting.

Circle it

Traditional call when a player scores 26, marking the score on the board with a circle.

Cork

American term for the bullseye, from the cork bung once used at the centre of a barrel-end board.

Cricket

A game using only 20 to 15 and the bull, where three marks close a number. See the full rules.

Cut-throat

A Cricket variant where points go to opponents who have not closed the number, and the lowest score wins.

Dead number

In Cricket, a number closed by every player. It scores nothing for anybody.

Double

The narrow outer ring, worth twice the segment value. The only ring that can finish a leg under double-out rules.

Double in

A rule requiring your first dart to land in a double before anything counts. Common in 301.

Double out

The standard finishing rule: the dart reaching exactly zero must be a double or the inner bull.

Double top

Double 20, worth 40. The most-thrown double in the game.

Downstairs

The lower half of the board, particularly the 19 and 16 beds. A player who "goes downstairs" switches from the 20 to the 19.

Fish and chips

A score of 45, an alternative to bag o' nuts.

Flight

The fin at the back of the dart that stabilises it in the air. Standard, slim, kite and pear are the common shapes.

Game shot

The referee's call when a player hits the winning double.

Grouping

How tightly three darts land together. Good grouping in the wrong place is a fixable problem; bad grouping is not.

Hat trick

Three bullseyes in one visit, worth 150.

Leg

One game from the starting score down to zero. Matches are made of legs, and sometimes of sets of legs.

Madhouse

Double 1, worth 2. The double you are left on after a bad leave, and named for what it does to your temper.

Mark

In Cricket, one hit towards closing a number. Three marks close it; a treble is three marks at once.

Master out

A finishing rule where a treble also wins the leg, not only a double. Used in some American leagues.

Maximum

A 180 — three treble 20s, the highest possible three-dart score.

MPR

Marks per round, the Cricket equivalent of an average.

Mugs away

The convention that the loser of the previous leg throws first in the next one.

Nine-darter

A leg of 501 won with nine darts, the fewest possible. Requires a 167 average.

Oche

The throwing line, 2.37 m from the face of the board. Pronounced "ocky".

Point

The tip of the dart. Steel tip for bristle boards, soft tip for electronic boards.

Right, right, right

Called when three darts land in the same treble bed. More often heard as a groan than a cheer.

Robin Hood

A dart that lands in the back of another dart already in the board. It scores nothing.

Set

A group of legs, usually best of five. Matches are then played as best of a number of sets.

Shaft, stem

The section between the barrel and the flight. Nylon, aluminium and carbon are the usual materials.

Shanghai

A single, double and treble of the same number in one visit. Also the name of a practice game where hitting one wins outright.

Sixty

A treble 20, and the standard scoring target.

Split the eleven

A dart landing between the two upright strokes of the number 11 on the board's outer ring. Scores nothing, and is entirely a joke shot.

Straight in

No double is needed to start scoring. Standard for 501.

Straight out

Any segment can finish the leg. Common in casual play, and it removes the bogey numbers entirely.

Ton

A score of 100 in one visit. A ton-forty is 140, a ton-eighty is the maximum 180.

Treble, triple

The narrow middle ring, worth three times the segment. Treble in British usage, triple in American.

Trombones

A score of 76.

Upstairs

The top half of the board, particularly the 20 bed.

Visit

One turn of three darts. Also called a throw or a round.

Wire out

A dart deflected by a wire into the wrong bed, usually ruining an otherwise good leave.

A few of these carry enough detail to need explaining properly rather than defining in a line.

Bogey numbers · Bust and double out · Nine-darter · Cricket and cut-throat · Oche · MPR