a card game for two to six players who seek to amass points by declaring sets of cards
2.
Also called: meld a declared set in this game, containing seven or more like cards, worth 500 points if the canasta is pure or 300 if wild (containing up to three jokers)
[C20: from Spanish: basket (because two packs, or a basketful, of cards are required), variant of canastro, from Latin canistrum; see canister]
1948, Uruguayan card game played with two decks and four jokers, popular c.1945-1965; from Sp., lit. "basket," from L. canistrum (see cannister); perhaps in reference to the "packs" of cards used.