/fan"tan'/ , n.
1. Also, fan tan . Also called parliament, sevens . Cards. a game in which the players play their sevens and other cards forming sequences in the same suits as their sevens, the winner being the player who first runs out of cards.
2. a Chinese gambling game in which a pile of coins, counters, or objects is placed under a bowl and bets are made on what the remainder will be after they have been counted off in fours.
[ 1875-80; fan tan lit., repeated divisions, or ]