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Darts glossary
The most important steel-tip darts terms, briefly explained: from visit and average to checkout and nine-darter.
- 180 (maximum)
- The highest possible visit with three darts: three times triple 20. At tournaments the caller announces it extra loudly.
- 3-dart average
- The average number of points a player scores per visit of three darts. The most important measure of scoring strength.
- Barrel, shaft and flight
- The parts of a dart: the barrel is the body, the shaft the connecting piece and the flight the fin at the back that steadies the flight. The point sits at the front.
- Bed and breakfast
- Nickname for 26 points, for example with 20, 5 and 1. The name dates from when a night with breakfast cost 26 pence.
- Best of / first to
- Two ways to state the length: “best of 7” means whoever wins 4 legs first, “first to 4” says the same using the winning number directly.
- Big fish
- The highest possible checkout: 170 with triple 20, triple 20 and bullseye.
- Bounce-out
- A dart that bounces off the board or falls out. It does not score and counts as a miss. In DartEyeQ you record it as a miss.
- Bull and bullseye
- The centre of the board: the outer bull (green ring) scores 25 points, the bullseye (red centre) 50. The bullseye counts as a double.
- Bust
- You score more than you have left, or are left on 1 with double out: the whole visit is void and you carry on from your previous score.
- Checkout (finish)
- The throw or visit with which you take your remaining score to exactly 0 and win the leg. With double out the last dart must be a double.
- Double
- The narrow outer ring of the board. A hit scores twice the number. Doubles matter because you finish on them.
- Double in / double out
- Double in: points only count once you have started with a double. Double out: the last dart to finish must be a double (or the bullseye).
- Game on / game shot
- The caller starts play with “game on” and announces the winning leg with “game shot”.
- Hat trick
- Three bullseyes with three darts in one visit.
- Leg
- A single game played through to the checkout, for example from 501 down to 0. Several legs make up a set or the match.
- Madhouse
- Nickname for double 1: a leg that ends on the smallest double (2 points).
- Nine-darter
- The perfect leg from 501 in just nine darts, the minimum. One example: six times triple 20, then triple 20, triple 19 and double 12.
- Oche (throwing line)
- The line you stand behind when throwing. It is 2.37 m from the board, measured horizontally.
- Robin Hood
- A dart that lands in the back of a dart already in the board. Named after Robin Hood, who in the legend splits one arrow with another.
- Set
- A group of legs: whoever first wins the required number of legs wins the set. Several sets make up the match.
- Shanghai
- A single, a double and a triple of the same number in one visit. In the game of the same name it can win instantly; the 120 checkout is sometimes called a Shanghai too.
- Straight out / master out
- Straight out: any segment will do to finish. Master out: the last dart must be a double or a triple.
- Sudden death
- A decider when scores are level: once a set score is reached, the next leg decides the winner, without needing a lead of two legs.
- Ton
- A visit scoring 100 or more. “Ton 80” is the name for a 180.
- Tops
- Nickname for double 20 (40 points), a popular double to finish on.
- Triple (treble)
- The narrow inner ring of the board. A hit scores three times the number. The highest score with one dart is triple 20 for 60 points.
- Visit
- The three darts a player throws in a row before it is the next player’s turn.
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