Glossary – the most important terms
Curling-philosophy | »The Spirit of Curling |
| Back Line | Line across the ice at the back of the house. Stones that go beyond this line must be removed from play. |
| Biter | A stone that just touches the outer edge of the circles. |
| Button or Dolly | The circle in the centre of the house. |
| Centre Line | The line in the middle that runs the full length of the ice field (from hack to hack). |
| Double Take Out | A take out that removes two (opponent) stones at once. |
| Draw | A stone played into the house. |
| Give ice | A player uses the broom to indicate where the stone should be played in order to achieve the current goal. |
| End | A portion of a curling game when each team has thrown eight stones and the score has been determined. Usually, tournaments last 8 ends, championships 10 ends. |
| Freeze | A stone played to perfectly hit another stone. |
| Guard | A stone placed in position to protect another stone in the house. |
| Hack | The footholds (usually rubber) at each end of the ice from which the stone is delivered. There are two hacks: right-handed (left of the centre line) and left-handed (right of the centre line). |
| Hammer | The advantage of having the last stone in the end. |
| Handle | The grip for holding and delivering a stone. Also the term used when determining which direction the stone should spin after delivery. |
| House | The circles where a stone must go in order to count. Usually the house is four concentric circles, measured by diameter (12-foot, 8-foot, 4-foot and a 1-foot button). |
| Hog Line | A line 10 metres from the hack at each end of the ice. Delivery of the stone must occur before this line, and the stone must completely cross this line to remain in play. |
| Hog | A stone that has not crossed the hog line and thus must be removed from play. |
| In-Handle/In-Turn Out-Handle/Out-Turn | Direction in which a stone should spin at delivery. |
| Lead | The player selected by the team to play the first two stones of an end. |
| Blank End | An end in which no points are scored. |
| Pepple | A fine spray of water applied to the curling ice with a kind of “watering can” before play. The frozen water droplets diminish the friction between the stone and the surface of the ice. |
| Raise | When a stone is bumped forward by another stone, typically into the house. |
| Rink | Europe: the ice field on which a game of curling is played. North America: a curling team or the building in which curling is played. |
| Rock | North American name for the curling stone. |
| Second | The player who delivers the second pair of stones (the third and fourth stones) in each end. |
| Sheet | North America: the playing surface or field on which a game of curling is played (see “rink”). |
| Shot | At any time during an end, the stone closest to the button in the house. |
| Skip | The player who determines the strategy and directs the play of the team. Usually, the skip plays the last two stones in each end. |
| Steal | Scoring points with one or more stones without having the last stone (hammer) in the house. |
| Stone | The granite curling stone. |
| Takeout | Playing a stone fast enough to hit and remove another stone (opponent’s or own) from play. |
| Tee Line | The line that passes through the centre of the house parallel to the hog line and back line. The team currently playing cannot sweep an opponent’s stone behind the tee line. |
| Third | The third player to deliver stones for the team in each end. This player usually acts as the skip (vice-skip) while the skip delivers the stones. |
| Wheight | The amount of force or speed applied to the stone during delivery to reach the desired goal. |
| Extra end | The decisive end, played if the score is tied after the predetermined number of ends. |
