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Definitions

From Liquipedia Counter-Strike Wiki

This page contains a list of terms and definitions that are commonly found when discussing Counter-Strike.

General Game-play terms[edit]

#[edit]

1G
To accidentally kill oneself with one's own molotov/incendiary grenade.
2K, 3K, 4K, 5K
A multi-kill during a round, where a single player got 2 kills, 3 kills, 4 kills, or 5 kills, respectively.

A[edit]

Ace
An ace is when a player kills the whole enemy team on his own in one round.
Ace clutch
When a player wins the round despite being the only one alive on his team against the entire enemy team.
ADS
Stands for Aiming Down Sight, which means looking through the scope of a weapon.
ADR
Stands for Average Damage per Round. Used mostly for the analysis of a player's performance in a match, and measure only the effectively dealt damage (capped at 100 per opponent).
Airshot
Killing someone while firing mid-air with a weapon.
Aimbot
A cheat that provides varying levels of automated target acquisition and calibration to the player.
Anti-eco
A team that anti-ecos will buy weapons that are efficient against Kevlar-less opponents (which happens when a team is doing an eco round, hence the name Anti-eco), and yield more money per kill than traditional weapons (e.g. shotguns, SMGs).
Anti-strat
A strategy used to counter a specific tactic that you are certain the opposing team is doing.
Autosniper
A synonym for the G3SG1 and the SCAR-20, the most expensive sniper rifles for both sides.
AWP
Also called the Magnum Sniper, the AWP is the most emblematic sniper of the game, known for killing an enemy in one shot, regardless of armor, if hitting anything above the hip.
AWPer
A player that is mainly using the AWP when they or the team can afford it.

B[edit]

Banana
The area in Inferno that connects the Terrorist ramp and the B bomb site. Named after its apparent shape in the overhead minimap.
Bogdan's Law
A rule of thumb where a player with less health should hold the AWP, which can kill in one shot as opposed to a rifle which can take multiple shots to kill.
Boost/Boosting
  1. When a player acts as a platform to help another player to either get to an otherwise unreachable location, such as high boxes, or to look over a wall.
  2. When players of higher ranks and/or cheaters 'boost' a lower-ranked teammate to a better rank that they otherwise could have been able to reach, often times for money or skins.
Braindead
Used to insult a player that appears to have a lack of gamesense.
Bursting
Firing short bursts of two or three bullets with a pause to reset the recoil. Used mostly at medium ranges.

C[edit]

Caller
See IGL.
Call Outs
The names for the different areas of a map, mostly used to tell the team where an enemy is or where to go.
Camping
A player that camps remains in their spot for a long time, waiting for enemies.
Clutch
A clutch is a situation where a player wins a round where he is at a disadvantage or where he is the only one left.
Collateral/Collat
The action of killing multiple enemies with a single bullet.
Competitive Cooldown
The equivalent of a temporary ban from the competitive games, usually caused by leaving games before the end, doing too much team damage, killing a teammate at round start, getting kicked by vote too often, or kicking other players too often.
Connector
A small area, often a room, that connects two areas of a map together, such as in between middle and the A site in Mirage, or in Cache, between the CT spawn and middle. Sometimes called Z, depending on its shape.
Crouch-jump
A crouch jump consists of crouching in the middle of a jump, which helps with reaching slightly higher platforms than jumping normally.

D[edit]

Deagle
An abbreviation for the Desert Eagle pistol.
Deco
A team-wide Desert Eagle buy an on an eco round. Mostly a legacy term.
Default
When a team goes for a pre-established default setup in a round, which implies not doing anything exotic like rushing as Terrorists, or stacking a site as Counter-Terrorists but rather going for a standard, versatile setup.
Demo
A demo is the game file of a match saved, with the *.dem extension.
Dink/Dinked
A dink is a shot in the head that doesn't kill. It is usually said that a player "has been dinked".
Draw
A match that went to a score of 15-15. In competitive pro games, usually followed by an overtime to determine the winner, not on the official Valve ladder where the draw is the final result.
Drop
  1. A drop is when a player buys a weapon for another player, usually when the latter is too poor to afford a weapon and equipment.
  2. When a player drops from a higher platform to a lower one.
Dualies
Designates the Dual Berettas.

E[edit]

Eco (round)
A strategy where a team doesn't buy rifles nor equipment in order to save money. There are different level of eco, which range from not buying anything at all (hard-eco) to pistol, grenades and Kevlar buys (semi-eco).
Entry-frag/Entry
The first kill in a round.
Era
A sustained period of dominance by a single team in the professional scene.
Execute
A pre-planned attack on a bombsite by the Terrorists, usually involving significant utility usage.
Exits/Exit frags
Or going for exits, which means trying to get kills as a Counter-Terrorist on Terrorists when they exit the bomb-site to avoid the explosion.

F[edit]

Fake
As terrorist, faking means trying to make Counter-Terrorists rotate to a bomb-site that you don't intend to take. That can be done by making noise with rifles, throwing flashbangs and/or smoke grenades onto that site, and then going to the other site.
Fake plant
Starting to plant the bomb so that the specific plant sound can be heard by Counter-Terrorists, then cancelling the plant and wait for Counter-Terrorists to push.
Fake defuse
Starting to defuse the bomb so that the specific defuse sound can be heard by Terrorists, then cancelling the defuse and waiting for Terrorists to push.
Flashkill
The action of killing someone with a flashbang. Only possible on an opponent with one health point and no armor.
Flickshot
A very quick reflex shot that kills an unexpected enemy that appears far from the crosshair.
Forcebuy
The act of purchasing nonetheless on a round where a regular eco round would normally be optimal. Usually done in order to try and "break" the enemy's economy. The last round of a half is always a forcebuy when a team doesn't have enough money for a buy, as the money is reset when swapping sides.
Frag
A kill.
Freezetime
The short period of time at the beginning of a round where players buy their equipment and can't move yet.
Fullbuy
A fullbuy is when a player can buy a rifle, a Kevlar and Helmet, the maximum number of grenades, and, for Counter-Terrorists, a Defuse kit.

G[edit]

GH
Good half. Said at the end of the first half of the match as a show of good sportsmanship.
GG
Good game. Said at the end of the match as a show of good sportsmanship.
Ghosting
Usually said about players that use a cheat to follow players through walls. Can also be said of a dead player that gives information about an alive player when the server allows spectating the other team after death (for example, in Casual mode).
Glasscannon
When a player doesn't have enough money to buy an AWP and armor, and only buys the AWP.
GLHF
Good Luck, Have Fun. Said at the beginning of the game as a show of good sportsmanship.
Goose
The platform directly behind the A bomb site on Dust II, parallel to the top of the pit area. Named after the graffiti present on the rightmost wall, which was put in by CS creator Minh 'Gooseman' Le.
Griefing
A player that is griefing is intentionally sabotaging/throwing a game for his teammates, usually by teamkilling, though it can be done through other ways such as throwing the bomb in an unreachable location, or purposely flashing their teammates.

H[edit]

Headshot
A shot to the head, which deals the most damage of any shot on a part of the body.

I[edit]

IGL
In-Game Leader. Designation of a player in a team that choose the strategies and make the main calls during the game.

J[edit]

Jigglepeeking
Strafing back and forth quickly near a corner to get information.
Jump-shot
A shot while jumping, far less accurate than a standing shot. The SSG 08, also known as the Scout, is a weapon famous for being used with jump-shots due to its mid-air accuracy.

K[edit]

K/D
Kills/Deaths ratio. The number of kills divided by the number of deaths. Used to quantify a player's performance.
Knife round
A special round that takes place before a match, where both teams use only knife. The winner usually has the opportunity of choosing on which side (Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist) to start.
KPR
Stands for Kills Per Round. It's one measure of a player's performance in a match.
KQLY shot
A jump shot, most commonly done from under the A bomb site on Dust II. Named after the player of the same name, who performed this move in a match against Virtus.pro at ESL One: Cologne 2014.
Krieg
A nickname for the Terrorists' scoped rifle, the SG 553.
KS
Killsteal. When a player is about to get a kill on an enemy, and another player gets the final shot, thus stealing the kill.

L[edit]

LAN
An offline tournament where all players are in the same building while playing.
Lane
A path that leads from the Terrorists side to the bomb-sites.
Legged
A call that indicates an enemy has been hit in the legs with an AWP, leaving them on very low HP.
Long
Used to denote the longest lane of multiple pathways that leads to a bomb-site. (E.g.: Long A).
Loss bonus
The extra money earned by a side that loses consecutive rounds ($500 per round, capped at $2000).
Lurker
An in-game role where a player plays far from his teammates, trying to draw the attention to him or to pick off the rotaters between bomb sites.

M[edit]

Map veto
The process of choosing a map that occurs before the game starts. Usually, the teams will take turns picking and banning maps until 1, 3, or 5 are chosen.
Match fixing
The act of throwing a game at a professional level, usually for money or skins.
Mid
Denotes a central/middle area of the map that can usually lead to either bomb-site.
MM
Matchmaking. An abbreviation for the competitive ladder.
Molly
A synonym for Molotovs and Incendiary Grenades.

N[edit]

N1
Nice one. Used to compliment another player for a nice action.
NA
North America. Often used to qualify a poor play, for example "an NA flash" or "an NA peek". This stems from the reputation North America has on Counter-Strike as an overall poorly performing region.
Nade
Another name for the HE Grenade.
Nadestack
Throwing multiple HE Grenades at the same location, in order to get a possible kill.
Ninja defuse
Defusing the bomb without the Terrorist team being aware of it.
No-scope
Shooting with a sniper rifle without using the scope.
Noob/Newb/Newbie
Designates a new player. Often used pejoratively to say that someone doesn't know how to play.
NS
Nice shot. Used to compliment a nice shot.
NT
"Nice try". Used to compliment a nice move or play even though it failed.

O[edit]

Off-angle
Also sometimes called "passive angle". Used to designate an angle that is not oriented towards usual peeking positions for the enemy team. An example would be holding short from the A bombsite on Dust 2 by holding an angle aimed at the open area between short and the bombsite, instead of looking at the corner of short. Holding an off-angle is generally used to surprise the enemy by not holding common (active) angles. It sometimes implies being more exposed and banks on the element of surprise.
Officials
Official tournament matches, as opposed to scrims.
One-deag
Designates a one shot to the head with the deagle, resulting in a kill.
One-tap
A one-shot to the head, usually with the AK-47.
Onliner
A player or team that does not manage to deliver at an offline event after performing remarkably well in online matches. Sometimes carries the connotation that the accused party is cheating.
One-way smoke
Designates a smoke through which a player can see without the opponent seeing him.
Open plant
A bomb planted out of any cover. An openly planted bomb is very difficult for the Counter-Terrorists to defuse if any Terrorists remain alive.
Overtime
In competitions, when teams tie a match at 15 -15, an overtime takes place to determine the winner, which consist of additional rounds.
Overtime is typically played using the max rounds 3, $10k format where there is a maximum of three rounds per overtime half and $10,000 starting money.
Some competitions, such as Valve Minors, use the more uncommon MR6 format, where a maximum of 6 rounds per half is played. The starting money for MR6 is usually $16,000.


P[edit]

Peeking
Rounding a corner, often in order to challenge an enemy player.
Pick
Getting a pick means killing an enemy without much commitment. Usually what the Terrorists seek during round where they don't push early a specific location, but rather hold/check angles. Counter-Terrorists may also get a pick if they kill a passive Terrorists.
Pistol round
The first round of a half, where teams start with an amount of money insufficient to buy any weapon but a pistol.
Planting for X
When a player plants for a location (usually a bombsite entry), it means that the bomb can be checked for defusing Counter-Terrorists by a Terrorist peeking from that location (e.g. planting for Catwalk on Dust2 means that a Terrorist peeking from Catwalk can kill the defuser).
Pop-flash
A flashbang thrown in a way that makes it very hard for the enemy to anticipate the explosion and look away.
Prefiring
Firing at a known hiding spot without knowing if there is actually an enemy there, in hopes of getting a kill if there is actually someone there.
PUG
Pick Up Game, a game with people you don't necessarily know.
Pugstar
A term for players who perform well in PUG services such as FACEIT Pro League or Rank S, but fail to play well in official tournaments.
Pushing
Advancing towards the enemy side, aggressively. Terrorists push towards bomb-sites, while Counter-Terrorists can push towards the terrorist to surprise them.

Q[edit]

Quickscope
The action of scoping and shooting with a sniper rifle in a really short timeframe. More accurate than a no-scope, but less accurate than being completely still and scoped.
Quasi-buy
A Quasi-buy round is a round where a team hasn't enough money for a full buy, still buys (usually armor and pistols, sometimes SMG or shotguns), but save enough money to be sure to buy the next round.

R[edit]

Recoil pattern
Every weapon has a recoil pattern, which designates where the bullets go when fired continuously. Learning recoil pattern makes it possible to compensate the recoil of a weapon, and thus stay accurate while firing.
Reset
When a team is extremely poor and has no loss bonus. Most often occurs when a team on a losing streak wins a round with only a few players alive, then immediately loses the next round.
Revenge kill
Also called a trade kill, it's the action of killing the opponent that just killed a teammate.
Rush
A rush is a strategy where a team pushes forward the enemy side very quickly, to catch them off guard. Can be done by either Terrorists or Counter-Terrorists.
Rotation
A rotation is a change of positions on the map, and is usually done as an answer to a kill or when having information about what the enemy is doing.
Rifle
The term used to label the FAMAS, Galil AR, M4A4, M4A1-S, and AK-47.
Rifler
A player that primarily uses one of the above mentioned rifles if they or the team can afford them.

S[edit]

Safe plant
A plant on a location with a lot of covers and/or out of sight of the bombsite entries, making easier to plant for the Terrorists, but also easier to defuse for the Counter-Terrorists.
Saving
A player that saves will concede the round, try to hide on the map and avoid getting killed to keep his weapon and/or equipment for the next round.
Scout
A synonym for the light sniper rifle SSG 08.
Scrim
A practice match between two teams.
Short
Denotes the shortest lane to a bomb-site. (E.g.: Short B).
Shoulderpeeking
Peeking a corner in such a fashion so only the shoulder of the player's model is visible, in order to bait out gunfire without actually putting a player in serious danger. Also see jigglepeeking.
SMG
The term used to label the MAC-10, MP5-SD, MP7, MP9, P90, PP-Bizon, and UMP-45.
Smoke-defuse
Throwing a smoke on top of the bomb and trying to defuse it inside the smoke, while being harder to hit.
Spots
See Callouts.
Split
A strategy used by Terrorists to take a bomb-site from two different angles. For example, on Dust II, a B-split happens when Terrorists enter the bomb-site from tunnel and from the Counter-Terrorists' mid.
Spraying
Firing continuously for a long time with a weapon.
Stack
Stacking is used to designate a Counter-Terrorists strategy where most or all players go to the same location (choke point or bomb-site), hoping that the terrorist will go there, instead of spreading across the map. This strategy is typically used on an Eco (round), to maximize the amount of weapons recovered and or trade kills.
Strat
The strategy a team will follow for a round.
Stuff
A term used for any equipment that is not a weapon, like grenades, armor, or kits.

T[edit]

Tag/Tagged
A tag is a shot with a gun that doesn't kill. It is usually said that a player "has been tagged".
Tac
Often said as a joke in a timeout, it designates tactical timeout which means the timeout is for talking about strategies.
Tapping
Firing bullets one at a time, waiting for the recoil to reset, trading off rate of fire for accuracy. Mostly used at very long range and when prefiring a spot.
Tec
Designates a technical timeout which means the timeout is about fixing a technical issue in a tournament.
Throwing
The act of intentionally trying to lose a game, usually through griefing
TK
A team kill, where a player (most likely accidentally) kills a teammate.
Trade
The action of killing an opponent that just killed a teammate.
Totem
When multiple players jump on each others, to form a totem. Kind of a bigger boost.
Triggerbot
A cheat that helps players by automatically shooting their weapon as soon as their crosshair hovers over the enemy.

U[edit]

Utility
A blanket term for all grenades.

V[edit]

VG/VeryGames buy
A (legacy) term, used to indicate a second-round force buy with a Kevlar + Helmet and a P250.

W[edit]

Wallbang
Firing through walls that let some bullets go through (like some doors, wood, boxes, etc.) in order to kill someone hiding behind it.
Wallhack
A type of cheat that lets the player see enemy players through walls.

X[edit]

Xbox
A metal box in the middle of Dust II, located where the minimap forms an X.

Y[edit]

Z[edit]

Z
Another term for "connector".
Zeco
Buying a Zeus on an eco round.

Non Game-play terms[edit]

Default
Default - When a map is awarded to a team coming from the upper bracket in a double elimination format.
Smurf
An experienced player that uses a new account to play in lower ranked games than his actual level.
TBA
To be announced - Information not yet disclosed by the person or organization in question.
TBD
To be determined - Something yet to be determined, such as tournament participants or release date.
Unknown
Unknown - No demos, vods, or HLTV to know the game maps.