League of Legends Dictionary

Having been inspired by several dictionary themed articles on Grantland.com I have decided to compose my own dictionary or list of terms commonly found in Solo Queue. This list is not complete by any means but it does cover some of the most famous and infamous words that many people encounter throughout their journey climbing the ladder.

All chat (n.) — ideally used to enhance one’s game through civil communication with the enemy team; in practice a place for disrespect and insults

Baron (n.) — a strong minion capable of giving a powerful buff; one of the two main objectives to be avoided for fear of losing the game (see: throw, dragon)

Blank or feed (exp.) — a phrase used to indicate that you are unable or unwilling to play another role; often an indicator of a defeat and poor game experience to come

BM (v.) — aka disrespect an action taken after an enemy’s been slain or if they are too weak to hurt the giver of disrespect; often done through all chat or spamming an emote such as taunt

Broken (adj.) — a genuine champion or mechanic of the game that is imbalanced and needs fixed; a champion of mechanic someone dislikes (see: toxic)  

Build (n.) — the order in which a player buys items to become more powerful; a reason to call someone trash

Carry (n. /v.) — a damage dealing role; more commonly the perceived act of singlehandedly winning a game by yourself despite your teammates (see: heavy)

Champion (n.) — the character the player uses

Champion select (n.) — a place where strategy can be discussed; a place where roles and champions are picked; often a place of negativity (see: blank or feed, pick order)

Chat restriction (n.) — a device implemented by Riot to help curve bad in-game behavior; a warning that the next 3 messages you’re about to read will be terribly offensive

Cover (v.) — the act of holding a teammates lane while they go back to heal or shop (see: tax, rotate); an excuse to take creeps from a teammates lane (i.e. I’ll cover for you go back to base)

Donger (n.) — something to be raised out of excitement or support; a rallying cry

Doublelift(uuuu) (exp.) — something to shout after a flashy outplay

Dragon (n.) — a powerful minion that grants the team a buff after being slain; weaker than a baron but still capable of producing a throw

Elo hell (n.) — a place where a player’s teammates are too unskilled to win games; a magical place that every player in every elo is in

Farm (v.) — a method of obtaining in-game currency through minion or champion slaying (see: fed)

Fed (adj.) — describes a player that has “eaten” a large amount of champions and/or minions; can be used as a verb to describe a teammate that is doing poorly

Fill (v.) — the action of filling in any role that the team might need

GG (exp.) — used after outplaying an opponent or when a teammate makes a mistake. Indicates that the game is over and cannot be won, commonly used after first blood

Group (v.) — a rarely seen action where a team exhibits teamwork and coordination; one of the major keys to winning a game (see: wards)

Heavy (adj.) — used to insult a team(mate); unable to be carried (see: carry)

Jungle (n.) — a place besides the lane where minions reside; a diverse role that focuses on a combination of farming outside of the lane and helping teammates; alternatively, the reason you lost the game

Kill Secured (v.) — the act of last hitting a champion to make sure they do not get away; often perceived as kill stealing

Kill Steal (v.) — the act of last hitting a champion to take credit from a kill your teammate deserved

Lane (n.) — a territory that players are overly protective of (i.e. stay out of my lane); something to be lost or won

Marksman (n.) — formerly known as ADC a role that works alongside the support in lane; often has strong damage output but needs protection

Meta (n.) — a holy list of what is believed to be the best available champions and strategies; not following it religiously can have negative consequences (see: trash)

Mid (n.) — a powerful but fragile role in the middle of the lane, typically a carry champion; the most desired roles of people who use the expression blank or feed

Minions (n.) — a source of money acquired when a champion last hits it

Nexus (n.) — a structure all champions are sworn to protect, destroying a nexus ends the game

Outplay (n.) an event where one player uses superior skill to beat another player; often said in all-chat after a fed player beats an unfed player, can cause a mental advantage over another (see: tilt)

Penta-Kill (n.) — award for one champion killing the entire enemy team; earned not given

Pick order (n.) — a way of determining roles based on placement in champ select; often used as a reason to ignore champ select

Rotate (v.) — moving from one location to another to gain an advantage or cover for a teammate; an action that requires teamwork and cooperation

Salty (adj.) — used to point out someone that is complaining or whining excessively

Shop (n.) — a place where one can purchase items to increase the strength of their champion

Smurf (n.) — a reason to let someone get their champion in champion select; a pretend account to explain why you lost (i.e. I don’t care it’s just a smurf)

Split push (exp.) — a viable strategy to win the game; when someone does not want to group, typically top lane or ADC (see: Trick)

Stream (n.) — a video stream of a player typically on Twitch; in-game advertisement/spam that is typically ignored in all-chat

Support (n.) — a role typically known for helping the team in general, specifically the marksman;

Surrender Vote (n.) — used to concede the game to an opponent; alternatively, spammed by a teammate that has given up (see GG)

Tax (v.) — the act of taking a teammates farm because you were asked/needed to cover their lane

Team Composition (adj, /n.) — often used to describe how poorly made your team is; a reason you lost the game

Teamfight (n.) — the act of working together as a team and combatting the enemy team; something often needed but more often ignored (i.e. we need to teamfight)

Throw (v.) — a big mistake by the team or a teammate that causes the loss of a game

Tilt (adj.) — used to describe the mental state of a player who is playing worse or making poorer decisions than normal; often the result of an enemy outplay 

Top (n.) — a role that is typically a bulky character that is a combination of disruption and support; often seen split pushing

Tower (n.) — a strong building that champions are trying to protect, capable of heavily damaging enemy champions

Tower Dive (v.) — an act of coordination where teammates ignore or juggle a tower’s damage in order to slay an enemy

Toxic (adj.) — used to describe a players negative behavior; also used to describe a champion or mechanic that someone does not like

Trash (n.) ­— an insulting description of: a non-meta champion, a player, or their talent, more often than not used to describe teammates  

Trick (n.) — a famous streamer that popularized split pushing and disrespect; every Udyr and Volibear on your team

Try-hard (n.) — insult used to describe an opponent that is trying to win the game, typically after being outplayed or interrupted by said opponent

Wards (n.) — a mystical item that grants a team vision on the mini-map; another key to winning a game