Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A card game for two to six players, requiring two or three decks of cards, in which the object is to obtain melds of three or more cards of the same rank.
  • noun A meld of seven cards having the same rank in this game.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a form of rummy using two decks and four jokers; jokers and deuces are wild; the object is to meld groups of seven of the same rank.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable, games, card games A card game similar to rummy and played using two packs, where the object is to meld groups of the same rank.
  • noun countable, card games A meld of seven cards in a game of canasta.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a form of rummy using two decks of cards and four jokers; jokers and deuces are wild; the object is to form groups of the same rank

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish canasta, basket, canasta (in reference to the container or tray used to hold the piles of undrawn and discarded cards when playing the game), from canasto, basket with a narrowing opening (influenced by cesta, basket), from Latin canistrum; see canister.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Spanish canasta. The game originates from Uruguay.

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Examples

  • I think the term is also used in canasta, which is also not in the same league as bridge.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » To Meld — What Does “Meld” Mean? 2010

  • Ten percent of the "canasta" is comprised of imported goods.

    Current US Dollar - Peso Exchange Rate 2008

  • I think the term is also used in canasta, which is also not in the same league as bridge.byomtovQuote

    The Volokh Conspiracy » To Meld — What Does “Meld” Mean? 2010

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

  • But when the helicopter returned yesterday and started making its rounds back and forth and back and forth with his little "canasta" for water I figured in some form or fashion it had gotten out of hand and the gobierno had intervened.

    Fire on the mountain... 2009

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