Word.ws English Dictionary

according to Hoyle

according to Hoyle prepositional phrase: in strict accordance with the rules, especially of card games; in the proper or expected manner.

according to hoyle: in strict accordance with the rules, especially of card games; in the proper or expected manner
Image: Edmond Hoyle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In strict accordance with the rules, especially of card games; in the proper or expected manner.
    • This isn't a country where things are cut and dried, and done according to Hoyle.1902, Gilbert Parker, chapter 11, in Donovan Pasha and Some People of Egypt
    • When you're lost in the Wild, and you're scared as a child, / And Death looks you bang in the eye, / And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle / To cock your revolver and . . . die.1912, Robert W. Service, “The Quitter”, in Rhymes of a Rolling Stone

Examples of according to Hoyle in a sentence

  • The opening round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament went according to Hoyle.2007 February 22, Phil Axelrod, “District Spotlight: PAC men's basketball follows form”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 08 Aug 2008:
  • To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure he was playing strictly according to Hoyle, but we'll leave it, since the poor chap's missing.2013 December 25, Julian Fellowes, “The London Season”, in Downton Abbey, spoken by Terence Sampson (Patrick Kennedy):

Origin of according to Hoyle

Named after Edmond Hoyle (1672–1769), an early author on the subject of card gaming.

Questions about according to Hoyle

What does according to Hoyle mean?
According to Hoyle means in strict accordance with the rules, especially of card games; in the proper or expected manner.
How do you use according to Hoyle in a sentence?
The opening round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament went according to Hoyle.
What part of speech is according to Hoyle?
According to Hoyle is a prepositional phrase.

Words near according to Hoyle in the dictionary

  1. according
  2. according as
  3. according to
  4. according to Cocker
  5. according to Gunter
  6. according to Hoyle
  7. according to one's lights
  8. according to one's understanding
  9. according to plan
  10. accordingly
  11. accordion

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: according to Hoyle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-according_to_Hoyle.ogg, en-au-according to Hoyle.ogg.

Cite this entry: “according to Hoyle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/according_to_hoyle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.