Glossary of Cue Sports Terms - A

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above

Used in snooker in reference to the position of the cue ball. It is above the object ball if it is off-straight on the baulk cushion side of the imaginary line for a straight pot (e.g. "he'll want to finish above the blue in order to go into the pink and reds"). It is also common to use the term high instead.

action

1. Gambling or the potential for gambling (US).

2. Lively results on a ball, usually the cue ball, from the application of spin.

3. Short for cue action.

added

Used with an amount to signify money added to a tournament prize fund in addition to the amount accumulated from entry fees (e.g. "$500 added").

ahead race

Also ahead session. A match format in which a player has to establish a lead of an agreed number of frames (games) in order to win (e.g. in a ten ahead race a player wins when she/he has won ten more racks than the opponent). Contrast race .

aiming line

An imaginary line drawn from the desired path an object ball is to be sent (usually the center of a pocket) and the center of the object ball.

anchor

To freeze a ball to a cushion; such a ball may be said to be anchored. This term is largely obsolete balkline billiards jargon.

anchor nurse

A type of nurse shot used in carom billiards games. With one object ball being anchored (frozen) to a cushion and the second object ball just slightly away from the cushion, the cue ball is gently grazed across the face of both balls, freezing the away ball to the rail and moving the frozen ball away the same distance its partner was previously, in an identical but reversed configuration, in position to be struck again by the cue ball from the opposite side to repeat this pattern, back and forth. Compare cradle cannon.

anchor space

A 7 inch (17.8 cm) square box drawn on the table in balkline billiards, from the termination of a balkline with the cushion, thus defining a restricted space in which only 3 points may be scored before one ball must be driven from the area. It developed to curtail the effectiveness of the chuck nurse, which in turn had been invented to thwart the effectiveness of Parker's box in stopping long, repetitive runs using the anchor nurse.

angle of incidence

The angle at which a ball approaches a cushion, as measured from the perpendicular to the cushion. The phrase has been in use since as early as 1653.

angle of reflection

The angle from which a ball rebounds from a cushion, as measured from the perpendicular to the cushion.

angled ball

In snooker and pool, a cue ball situated in the jaws of a pocket such that a/the ball-on cannot be struck directly. Compare corner-hooked.

arc

The extent to which the cue ball curves as a result of a semi-massé or massé shot.

apex

Also apex ball, apex of the triangle, apex of the diamond or apex of the rack.

The ball placed at the front of a group of racked object balls (i.e., toward the breaker and furthest from the racker), and in most games situated over the table's foot spot.

around the table

In carom games, a shot in which in attempting to score, the cue ball contacts three or more cushions, usually including both short rails.