ZEL is valid in Collins, not in North America — 12 points
It depends on the list you play by. ZEL is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 12 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept ZEL?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 52 / 100
Our own measure of how useful ZEL is to know. It scores 12 from 3 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.7% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for ZEL
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
zelsChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How ZEL scores
Face value of the 3 tiles in ZEL, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| z | 1 | 1 |
| e | 1 | 12 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 3 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 3,369.
What does ZEL mean in Scrabble?
noun
music
A small Oriental cymbal, especially one used in Turkish music.
Musicians strike a pair of zel together, or mount them for rhythmic accents in traditional ensembles, much like the finger cymbals used in other regional music traditions. The word entered English mainly through descriptions of Ottoman and Middle Eastern instruments.
How ZEL is used
Used in descriptions of Middle Eastern and Ottoman musical instruments.
- The ensemble added a zel to brighten the rhythm.
- He collected a pair of zel from a market in Istanbul.
- The dancer's costume included tiny zel sewn onto the sleeves.
- A single zel rang out at the end of the phrase.
- The museum display labelled the zel among other Ottoman instruments.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of ZEL and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with ZEL
18 longer words begin with ZEL.
Words ending in ZEL
22 words end in ZEL. Useful as a back hook: play ZEL onto a word already on the board.
Words with ZEL inside
Showing 24 of 61 words that contain ZEL somewhere in the middle. Words that start with ZEL are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in ZEL
Common questions about ZEL
- Is ZEL valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and ZEL is not in it.
- How many points is ZEL worth?
- ZEL is worth 12 points in Scrabble and 13 points in Words with Friends.
- What does ZEL mean?
- A small Oriental cymbal, especially one used in Turkish music.
- What letters can be added to ZEL?
- ZEL takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 3 letters of ZEL:
Open ZEL in the Word Finder