This is a glossary of terminology used in the game of darts. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics.
A
Alan Evans shot Hitting three double-bulls in one turn.
Annie's Attic Double 1.
Annie's room (or Annie's house) The number 1.
Arraz/arrows Another term for darts.
Archer Refers to a player who throws very quick smooth darts, like an archer's arrow (also known as a 'Derek'). Contrast "Floater".
Darts played with a talking electronic board, popular with visually impaired players. May also be played by blindfolded sighted players.
Average Average score achieved every three darts thrown. See also PPD.
B
Baby ton A score of 95, usually by scoring five 19s.
Baby fish A 130 checkout: T20, 20 (or 20, T20), Bull. First mentioned by Wayne Mardle commentating the 2019/20 WC.
Bag of nuts A score of 45, named after the prize offered at a fairground.
Bagadix A dart term used when a player scores 26 points by hitting a 20, a 5 and a 1. Over the years the term has been used more liberally to describe any combination of darts totalling a score of 26. Commonly coined, "Bag" for short.
Barrel The part of a dart that a thrower grips, right behind the point.
Basement The double-3.
Basil Brush When someone loses without scoring a point, they are said to have been "brushed" or given the basil brush.
Baskin-Robbins A throw with a total score of 31.
Baz A darter with random and sporadic throwing ability.
Bed A section of a number, usually referring to a double or triple.
Beehives Cockney rhyming slang for "two fives".George, B. and Chaplin, P. (2011) Scoring for Show, Doubles for Dough – Bobby George's Darts Lingo, Apex Publishing.
Big Fish A score of 170 to end a leg (triple-20, triple-20, inner bull) (See also: Maximum check-out)
Bounce out When a dart bounces back off the board, usually after hitting a wire.
Break Winning a leg as the player to go second at the start of that leg. Analogous to the usage of the term in tennis.
Breakfast (or bed 'n' breakfast) A score of 26, made up of a single-5, single-20, single-1 in a game of x01. This is a common score in darts because players aiming for the 20 sector (which contains the highest scoring area on the board) will often accidentally hit the 1 and the 5 sectors, which are located on either side of the 20. The term comes from the typical price of a bed-and-breakfast in times gone by: 2 shillings and sixpence, or "two and six". (See also chips). Hitting the treble of each number is known as a champagne breakfast: Triple 20, triple 5 and triple 1.
Brimful of Asha (Brimful) A score of 45. Taken from the chorus of the song "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop ("Brimful of Asha on the 45").
Bucket (or bag) of nails Landing all three darts in the 1. This is also known as "The Eric Bristow", who once scored three 1s in a televised tournament.
Buckshot A throw when darts land wildly all over the board.
Bull calf The number 33.
Bull-off See diddle for the middle.
Bull-up See diddle for the middle
Bullseye (or bull) The centre of the board. (see also: single-bull and double-bull)
Bunting Throwing darts while kneeling.
Bust In an x01 game, hitting more points than needed to win, reaching a score of 1, or reaching zero by hitting anything other than a double or the bull. The darts do not count, the rest of the turn is forfeited, and the player begins their next turn on their prior score. A variant is the Northern Bust, in which the player's score is reset to whatever it was immediately before the last dart they threw.
C
C In a game of cricket this refers to high scores based on the number of darts scored. For example a triple-20, single-20, single-20 would be called a C-5 because "5 darts" were scored with three darts.
Carpentry darts Darts thrown such that they miss the board entirely and hit a wooden frame which is holding the board to the wall. (See also: masonry darts)
Carolina Leaner A player who leans as far over the oche as possible in an effort to reduce the distance of their throws. (American term)
Champagne Breakfast Hitting triple 20, triple 1 and triple 5 in three darts. (See also breakfast.)
Champagne Shot A score of 132 checked out by hitting inner bull, inner bull and Double 16.
Checkout Reducing one's score to exactly zero, thus winning the leg. A final double is required to win a leg in an x01 game.
Chucker A player who just "chucks" the darts at the board and does not aim or care.
Circle it When a player scores a single digit (less than 10) with three darts, their teammates would shout out "Circle it!" to the scorekeeper to highlight the terrible throw. A variation on this tradition is to draw a fish around the score, often leading to aquarium-related jokes being aimed at particularly poor or unlucky players. (See also: fish)
Clock The dartboard itself, usually in the context of round the clock.
Close out Getting three hits on a number opened by the opponent in a game of cricket. Doubles and trebles count as two and three hits, respectively. Once a number is closed out, neither player can score points from it.
Conquistador Going out with a bull/double bull.
Cork The center of the board. This comes from the cork in the end of a keg where it is tapped. The ends of kegs were used for targets in the game's early days.
Cover Aiming for an alternate triple, usually 19, when a previously thrown dart is blocking the triple 20.
Cricket Two distinct game variations. The American game is known by many different names, such as "Mickey Mouse", outside North America, where cricket refers to a different game, which is often called "Australian Cricket".
D
Daddy's bed, daddy's, daddy See right church, wrong pew.
Dairylea darts A throw that is 'spread' around the board, named after the cheese spread Dairylea.
Decider The leg/set that determines the winner of a match when the score is tied. Also known as last-leg/last-set decider or deciding leg/set.
Devil The triple-6, so called due to '666', and the fact that it is often hit in error when going for triple-13 or triple-10.
Devil's Finish Checking out 25 (usually Single 9, Double 8), originated from a video of Ted Hankey playing.
Deming When the dart lands on the other side of the wire of the area aimed for. Then yelling an expletive.
Destiny bull When it is inevitable that bull will be hit. For the whole day after whoever achieves this must be referred to as 'bull'.
Diddle for the middle A throw of a single dart to determine who throws first in the game by means of being closer to the bullseye. Also known as a "bull-off", "middle for middle", "corking" and "out for bull".
Double The thin outer ring of the board. In standard x01 games, a double counts for two times the number hit.
Double-bull On dartboards configured with a bullseye consisting of two concentric circles, double-bull refers to the inner circle, which is commonly red and worth 50 points. (See also: bullseye and single-bull)
Double dance A dance done after checking out, popularised by BBC show Numberblocks, where a line of the 4 times table song is "do the double, double, double, double dance".
Double in A variant of x01 in which a double is needed to start the game.
Double top The double-20.
Double trouble Not being able to hit the double needed to win the game.
Double Quincy The double-7, named after Ajax player Quincy Promes.
Downstairs The lower portion of the board, usually in reference to the 19s in a game of x01.
Dreaded Hitting a 20, 1 and 5 in the same turn, coined by a group who play in the Prince Of Wales, Haslemere, Surrey.
E
Easy in Same as straight in; a game that requires no special shot to begin scoring.
Egg and Chips Scoring 26 in three darts, through scoring a 20, 1 and 5
F
Feathers The number 33. Also may refer to flights, since early flights were made from feathers.
Fish A score of nine or less, usually denoted by drawing a whale around the score on the scoreboard. (See also circle it and whale).
Fish and chips (or feed) Hitting 20, 1, and 5 for 26. (see also breakfast)
Fogle A series of castaway darts thrown with no other purpose than to irritate opponents.
Flights The "wings" at the end of a dart that help it fly straight and land point first. Also known as feathers.
G
Game on Called by the referee to advise all players that the match has now started.
Game shot Called by the referee to signify that the leg winning double has been hit.
Goldilocks Hitting the double next to the one being aimed for.
Granny A loss without scoring, see shut out.
Greenpeace dart The third dart thrown, when it manages to avoid scoring a FISH or a WHALE which was looking likely after the first two darts had been thrown. So called because the player is said to have "saved the fish" or "saved the whale".
H
Hat-trick A score of three bullseyes. Also known as the Alan Evans shot, who scored three bulleyes during a match on numerous occasions.
He doesn't want it A cry from the crowd in recognition of the fact that one of the players is struggling to successfully complete a leg.
High ton A score equal to or greater than 150.
Hold Winning a leg as the player to go first at the start of that leg. Also referred to in full as 'hold of throw'.
Hot toddy Refers to a player who throws well despite intoxication.
I
Island The actual playable area of a dart board (inside the doubles ring). Missing this area entirely is sometimes referred to as "off the island".
Ichigo-byo In Japanese it means "Strawberry Disease" but taken apart it, the word strawberry: "ichigo" can mean 1 (ichi) and 5 (go). Japanese players use this term for when they aim at 20 but hit a 5 and a 1 along with the intended 20. It is equivalent to the English term breakfast.
Irish Ton Two single 1s and a triple 1; ie: it would be worth 100 if it were five 20s instead of five 1s.
Iron Man Going out with a double/double.
J
Jugging Checking out while the opponent's score is 200 or greater. Based on a custom in social darts that requires a player defeated in this manner to drink a jug of beer without stopping.
K
Killer A game variant where a number of players "own" a number on the dartboard and compete to build up "lives" (by hitting that number) until a threshold is reached (usually 4 or 6) before attempting to "kill" other players by removing the lives they have built up (by hitting those other players' numbers) until a single player is left.
L
Leg One game of a match. Some professional matches are made up of a number of sets, each of which is split into legs.
Leg shot Signifies that a player has completed (won) the "leg".
Lipstick Usually refers to triple 20, as this portion of the board is commonly red in color and resembles an upper lip, but may refer to any red double or triple.
Low Ton A score less than 150 but greater than 100.
Last Dart Dave First two darts miss the mark, however, the last dart hits the intended target.
M
Mad house The double-1. At least two explanations for the term have been proffered; because it can drive one crazy trying to hit one in a game of x01, or because it is impossible to "get out" of the mad house - once a player has a score of 2 the only way to finish the game is by hitting a double-1.
Marker A dart that has landed off target but very close, the dart is used as guide.
Martial Arts Cockney rhyming slang for "darts".
Masonry darts Darts thrown such that they miss the board entirely and hit the wall instead (i.e. even worse than carpentry darts).
Match dart A dart thrown at a double to win the match.
Maximum A score of 180, achieved by hitting the treble-20 with all three throws in a single turn.
Maximum check-out A score of 170 to end a game (triple-20, triple-20, inner bull)
Meatball Throwing the dart underhanded and backwards into the board.
Mickey Mouse See cricket.