180 Rotation:

Flipping a piece upside-down (allowed in some games like Tetris: The Grand Master).

4-wide / 3-wide / 2-wide:

Intentionally leaving a 4/3/2-column gap for combo setups.

7-piece Randomizer:

A randomization system that shuffles all 7 tetrominoes (I, O, T, L, J, S, Z) into a “bag,” ensuring each piece appears once per 7-piece cycle. Prevents long droughts of a single piece.

All-spin:

A variant where all pieces can perform spins like T-spins.

APM (Attacks Per Minute):

A measure of how many garbage lines a player sends to opponents each minute in multiplayer Tetris.

ARE (Animation Re-entry Delay):

The delay between a piece locking and the next piece appearing.

Attack (Garbage):

Lines sent to an opponent’s board after a line clear.

Back-to-backs:

Consecutive line clears without using a non-Tetris (non-quad) or non-T-spin line clear in between, often granting bonus points.

Baiting:

In Tetris 99,baiting means building a high, weak-looking stack to lure attackers, then countering with Tetrises or T-spins to send multiplied garbage and earn badges/K.O.s.

Burning:

Clearing lines inefficiently to survive (e.g., singles during garbage pressure).

Cavity:

An area with a depression that isn’t filled, often surrounded by taller surrounding stacks.

Cleanliness:

Efficient stacking with minimal covering or blocking of below holes with tetrominoes.

Combo:

Clearing multiple lines consecutively with successive piece placements.

Counter (Garbage):

Canceling incoming garbage with your own line clears.

Crashing (Classic Tetris):

When the game freezes due to reaching extremely high levels (Level 155+), caused by programming limits in the NES version.

DAS (Delayed Auto-Shift):

The delay before a held movement key repeats the piece’s movement.

DAS Charge:

Possibly pre-charging DAS for faster movement.

DAS Preservation:

Maintaining DAS momentum between pieces for quick movement to the field’s edges.

Donation:

Often refers to T-spin donations, which involve making a T-spin by temporarily blocking the next garbage hole with tetrominoes.

Double:

Clearing 2 lines simultaneously.

Downstacking:

Clearing lines to lower the stack height, often in vs. modes.

Drought:

Long absence of a needed piece (e.g., “I-piece drought”).

Field Dependency:

How the current field structure dictates which specific pieces are required to maintain stability or continue efficient stacking.

Field Harmony:

Defined as choosing mino placements that lead to the broadest and smoothest stacking follow-up while minimizing dead-ends.

Finesse:

Optimal movement inputs to place pieces with minimal keystrokes.

Fishing:

Waiting for a specific mino piece dependency to arrive.

Flood:

Having too many consecutive repeated pieces (e.g., “I piece flood”)

Freestyle:

Improvising stacks vs. pre-planned setups.

Garbage Blocking:

Preventing incoming garbage with line clears. Once a series of joined line clear ends, one receives garbage.

Garbage Cancellation:

Clearing lines to negate incoming garbage.

Ghost Piece:

A translucent preview of where the piece will land.

Guideline Tetris:

Modern Tetris rules (e.g., 7-bag randomizer, hold piece, hard drop).

Hard Drop:

Instantly placing a piece with one input.

Hold Queue:

The slot to store a piece for later use.

Hole-Switching:

Using the L, J, T, or I piece to switch the location of a garbage hole using a skim.

Hypertapping:

Rapidly tapping DAS to move faster (common in Classic Tetris).

IHS (Initial Hold System):

The ability to use the Hold feature immediately before a piece spawns.

IRS (Initial Rotation System):

Allows rotating a piece before it spawns (e.g., during ARE delay). Used to pre-orient pieces for faster placement.

Jagged Corner:

An isolated bump that appears during downstacking that blocks the next garbage hole.

Kicks:

Automatic adjustments when a rotated piece doesn’t fit (e.g., wall/floor kicks).

Line clear:

Removing one or more lines from the stack.

Lock Delay:

Time a piece stays movable after landing (adjustable in some games).

Misdrop:

Accidentally placing a piece in the wrong position.

Next Queue:

Display of upcoming pieces (length varies by ruleset).

Opener:

Pre-planned starting moves for early-game advantages.

Parity:

The smoothness or jaggedness of a stack of tetrominoes. More technically, it refers to the difference between odd and even blocks.

Parity Bump:

A jugged protrusion in an area with local parity imbalance.

Perfect Clear:

Clearing the entire playfield at once, leaving no blocks.

Piece Dependency:

A scenario where a particular setup requires one or more specific pieces to fill, such as an I or T piece.

Platform stacking

Involves purposely stacking over holes to skim off the top layers.

Polymer T-spin:

A specialized T-spin variant using unorthodox ceiling kicks.

Prophecy T-spin:

A predicted or pre-planned T-spin setup.

Prop:

A specific supporting structure within a setup, often used to create a pattern for an advanced technique.

Quad:

Clearing 4 lines at once (a “Tetris”).

Rebirth (Classic Tetris):

A rare event where the game resets to Level 0 after surpassing Level 255 (the highest possible level), allowing play to continue indefinitely.

Rolling:

A finger technique to achieve ultra-fast movement (replaces hypertapping).

Secret Mode:

Hidden Modes: Unlockable game modes (e.g., Tetris DX’s “Invisible” or The New Tetris’ “Square Mode”).

Shaving:

See burning.

Single:

Clearing 1 line.

Skimming:

Involves manipulating a field into a more desirable form using singles, doubles, or triples.

Soft Drop:

Rapidly moving a piece downward while retaining control.

Spike:

A sudden large garbage dump (e.g., after a combo/T-spin).

Spliced T-spin:

A hybrid T-spin setup (e.g., combining multiple T-spin types).

Sprint:

A mode to clear 40 lines as fast as possible.

Stacking:

Building the playfield efficiently to prepare for clears.

Stalling:

A technique where the player intentionally delays piece placement—usually to wait for garbage to rise or for a more favorable board state—often by rotating or holding pieces without dropping them.

Stall-widing:

A stalling technique used to maintain or extend a combo (Ren) chain in a 4-wide setup by delaying placements between clears, allowing garbage to rise before continuing the combo.

Sticky Queue:

A delay before the next piece appears if inputs are held (e.g., NES Tetris).

Suspension:

A floating part of a setup that is unsupported from below and is often used for advanced T-spins.

Tank (Garbage Tank):

Intentionally holding garbage lines to counter later.

T-spin:

Rotating a T-piece into a tight gap to clear lines, scoring bonus points.

Tetromino (Piece):

The four-block geometric shapes used in Tetris: I (straight), O (square), T, L, J, S, and Z.

Top-out:

Losing by the stack reaching the top of the playfield.

Triple:

Clearing 3 lines simultaneously.

Upstacking:

Building stack height for future clears (e.g., Tetris setups).

Vulnerability:

A state with few resources to defend against an attack quickly.

Zone:

A mechanic where players activate “Zone Time” to freeze the playfield and clear multiple lines simultaneously, banking them for a delayed, combo-scoring burst.