Meaning of 'skat'

A three-handed card game played with

cards, of which two constitute the skat (sense

, or widow. The players bid for the privilege of attempting any of several games or tasks, in most of which the player undertaking the game must take tricks counting in aggregate at least

(the counting cards being ace

, ten

, king

queen

jack

. The four jacks are the best trumps, ranking club, spade, heart, diamond, and ten outranks king or queen (but when the player undertakes to lose all the tricks, the cards rank as in whist). The value of hands depends upon the game played, trump suit, points taken, and number of matadores.

(Skat) A widow of two cards.