Glossary

This is a page dedicated to briefly describe terms that are frequently used in Survivor. Feel free to add new entries. To learn more about these term, there are links to direct you to its mother article.

A

 * Advantage - A reward given to a player in a "Reward Challenge" in which the player will have some sort of advantage in the upcoming Immunity Challenge.
 * Alliance - A group of people who band together for strategic purposes (see Alliance).
 * Auction - A type of reward challenge in which the remaining contestants are given a specific amount of money to outbid each other for various items (see Survivor Auction).

B

 * Blindside - To eliminate a person from the game by surprise.
 * Buff - A colored band of cloth which denotes tribal affiliation (see Buff).

C

 * Car Curse - The inexplicable coincidence where the winner of a Reward Challenge which has a car for a prize does not win the entire game. (see Car Curse)
 * Castaways - The contestants in each season (see Castaway).
 * Challenge - The competition in which the tribes or contestants vie for Reward and/or Immunity. (see Challenge)

D

 * Day 39 - The final day of the competition.
 * Duel - A special challenge in which the current inhabitant(s) of Redemption Island and the most recently voted out contestant(s) compete for a chance to get back in the game.

E

 * Exile - T o send a player to Exile Island.
 * Exile Island - A location where a castaway would be temporarily banished from his/her tribe for a predetermined period of time (see Exile Island).
 * Evacuation - Being pulled from the game for medical reasons (see Medical Evacuation).

F

 * Fan Favorite Award - Another name for Sprint Player of the Season, where the season's most popular contestant gets an extra prize (see Fan Favorite Award).
 * Final Two/Three - The remaining two or three castaways who would face the Jury and are eligible to be voted for the title of Sole Survivor.
 * Fire-Making Challenge - A special challenge wherein the people involved in a tie duke it out to stay in the game. Only happens during the final four or when tribe is down to only two members.
 * Flip - To betray one's alliance by joining another alliance.
 * Flush - To play the Hidden Immunity Idol when it is not necessary or to be voted out without playing the Hidden Immunity Idol.

H

 * Hidden Immunity Idol (or Idol) - An item that can be found by castaways and can be used to save oneself or others from getting voted out (see Hidden Immunity Idol).

I

 * Idol (Out) - To cause the elimination of another castaway by playing the Hidden Immunity Idol.
 * Immunity - An exemption from being voted out.

J

 * Jury - A group of recently eliminated contestants who will decide the Sole Survivor among the final few (see Jury).

K

 * Kidnap - A chance to "kidnap" a member of the opposite tribe for a day (could join for challanges) and then return to their original tribe later

L

 * Loved Ones - The relative, spouse or friend of a castaway who visits the island for a predetermined period of time (see Loved Ones).

M

 * Merge - To combine the remaining members of both tribes into one final unit, effective until the end of the game (see Merge).

N

 * Necklace - Refers to the Immunity Necklace.

O

 * (The) Outcasts - A ghost tribe in Survivor: Pearl Islands consisting of the first six players who were voted out of the game and were given a chance to return to the game after competing in a special three-tribe Immunity challenge (see Outcasts).

P

 * Pagonging - A post-merge strategy employed by a tribe by successively voting out the remaining members of the other tribe (see Pagonging).
 * Parchment - The paper used by the contestants in their voting.
 * Ponderosa - A sequester house for eliminated castaways.
 * Purple Rock - A pre-Final Four mechanism to break a tie vote. Players (except Immune players) will have to draw rocks, and the person who gets the purple rock gets eliminated.

Q

 * Quit - To voluntarily leave the game without being voted out (see Quit).

R

 * Redemption Island (or Redemption) - A location where castaways would stay after being voted out and await their upcoming Duel(s).
 * Rites of Passage - A ceremony involving the tribute of the final few to the eliminated castaways before the final Immunity Challenge.

S

 * Snuffing - The act of extinguishing an eliminated contestant's torch by the host.
 * Split Vote - A strategy employed by an alliance with a 2/3 majority by distributing their votes between members of a smaller opposing alliance, to possibly defuse any power gained by playing a Hidden Immunity Idol.
 * Sole Survivor - The title bestowed on the winner of each season (see Sole Survivor).

T

 * Throwaway Vote - To purposefully or randomly vote a castaway, knowing that his/her vote might not have any strategic significance whatsoever.
 * Torch - An item that holds fire, which represents a castaway's "life" in the game.
 * Tribal Council (or Tribal) - The elimination ceremony and the place where votings take place (see Tribal Council).
 * Tribe - The competing teams in each season (see Tribe).
 * Tribe Switch - A twist which involves sending members of a tribe to the other and vice versa (see Tribe Switch).
 * Twist - A drastic game-changing alterations to the original format of the game (see Twists).

U

 * Ulonging - A circumstance when a tribe constantly loses Immunity challenges (see Ulonging).

V

 * Voted Out - To be eliminated from the game.