Meaning & use
bingo
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Meanings
noununcountable
A game where players mark numbers on a card as they are called out, and the first to mark a complete line or pattern wins.
Grammar: Uncountable: you say 'play bingo', not 'play a bingo'.
Patterns
- play bingo
- a game of bingo
- bingo caller
Every Friday night, my grandmother goes to the community center to play bingo.
The school organized a bingo game to raise money for new books.
He won a small prize at bingo and bought everyone a round of drinks.
interjectioninformal
Used to show that you have just found the answer, solved a problem, or achieved something.
Grammar: Said on its own as an exclamation, often after a moment of discovery.
Patterns
- bingo!
I searched for my keys everywhere, and then—bingo!—they were in my coat pocket.
She guessed the word after two letters and shouted 'Bingo!'
You add the numbers together, multiply by three, and bingo, you have the answer.
Common combinations
- bingo hall
- The old cinema has been turned into a bingo hall.
- bingo card
- Each player gets a bingo card with random numbers.
- bingo caller
- The bingo caller announced the numbers quickly.
- play bingo
- We played bingo at the fair and I won a teddy bear.
- bingo night
- Thursday is bingo night at the local pub.
Word family
- bingo caller noun
- The person who reads out the numbers in a bingo game.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'bingo' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Bingo' as an interjection is used alone to express success. 'Play bingo' is correct without 'a', so option An is wrong. 'Bingo' is not a verb, so option C is wrong. As a game, it is uncountable, so 'The bingo is' is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bingo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.