In medicine, MELD is an acronym for a liver-disease scoring system, unrelated to card games. In Magic: The Gathering, meld is a specific transformation mechanic, not the generic term used in rummy-family games.

Card Games

Meld meaning

A meld is a group of cards a player reveals during play to earn points, usually formed as matching ranks or a consecutive sequence in the same suit.

Minimum cards: 3 or more cards, depending on the game¹²
Common types: Sets (same rank) and runs (consecutive ranks, same suit)²⁷
Canasta rules: 3–4 cards per meld, at least 2 natural cards, no more than 3 wild cards⁵
Hand and Foot: 3–7 cards per meld⁴
Jass scoring: Four jacks score 200 points; four nines score 150⁸

Key points

Melds are central to rummy-family games such as rummy, canasta, gin, Hand and Foot, and Conquian, as well as mahjong and some trick-taking games like pinochle and bezique.¹²
A player forms a meld from their hand and places it face up on the table to score points or reduce their hand size.³⁷
In rummy-style games, melds are either sets (same rank) or runs (consecutive ranks in the same suit).²⁶
Some games allow adding cards to existing melds or require melds to construct a winning hand.⁷⁹

Examples of melds in different games

Common meld requirements across popular card games.
Game	Meld type	Minimum cards
Rummy	Set or run	3
Canasta	Set only	3
Gin rummy	Set or run	3
Hand and Foot	Set only	3
Pinochle	Set or run	3

Common questions

What is a meld in canasta?

In canasta, a meld is a set of 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, placed face up on the table. Each meld must contain at least two natural cards and no more than three wild cards.⁵ Melds are used to score points and eventually go out.

Where this term is used

Card games

Card games Meld meaning in English Explains the broader English verb 'to meld' and how it applies to card games. Card games Meld score meaning Describes how melds contribute to scoring in various card games. Card games Whist drive meaning Explains a whist drive, a social event for playing whist. Card games Faro shuffle A faro shuffle is a card-handling technique where the deck is cut into two equal halves and the cards are interlaced … Card games Gin vs gin rummy Gin is the outcome in gin rummy where a player goes out with no unmatched cards Card games Gin rules Gin rules are the rules for gin rummy

Sources

Meld (cards) en.wikipedia.org Provides the general definition of meld and lists games that use melds.
Rummy en.wikipedia.org Details meld types (sets and runs) and minimum card counts in rummy.
Glossary of card game terms en.wikipedia.org Defines meld in the glossary of card game terms and describes how melds are played.
Hand and Foot bicyclecards.com Specifies meld size limits (3–7 cards) in Hand and Foot.
Canasta bicyclecards.com Gives canasta meld rules: 3–4 cards, at least 2 natural, no more than 3 wild.
500 Rummy - Card Game Rules pagat.com Explains meld requirements in 500 rummy.
Rummy - Card Game Rules pagat.com Describes meld types and adding cards to melds in rummy.
Jass - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Lists point values for specific melds in Jass.
Mahjong - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Notes that melds are used in mahjong to construct a winning hand.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.