Solitaire
refers to any of the various games of cards that can be played by one person.
The British term for such games is patience.
In most games of solitaire one or more full decks of 52 cards are used,
with the cards dealt to the table in some plan or pattern, usually according
to an arbitrary arrangement known as a tableau
.
This pattern customarily is laid out before the start of play, but in some
games it is formed during play. The game develops out of the undealt portion
of the deck, known as the hand, which is turned up one card or more at a
time. Cards are played into the tableau as available or suitable.

The object of most solitaire games is to build, or form, sequences of
cards in ascending or descending order--that is, from the ace up to the king
or from the king down to the ace (the king is usually high card). Suits
have no comparative rank; hearts and diamonds are called red and spades
and clubs are called black. The rules of play may require that sequences
be built up in one color, in alternating colors, or in one suit alone. Occasionally,
more than one of these methods is permitted during the course of play.
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