Definition
A kong is a set of four identical tiles, fillable with jokers and completable by calling a discard.
A set has only four copies of each suited tile, wind and dragon, so an all-natural kong of one of those means nobody else can hold that tile. Flowers are the exception, because a set has eight. Kongs are common in American hands and unlike Chinese mahjong there is no replacement draw for making one.
At the table
A kong quietly does something no other set does. If all four tiles are natural and sitting with you, nobody else can hold that tile at all, unless the kong is flowers, which come eight to a set. The mistake is breaking one late to chase a different line, because you almost never get the fourth tile back, and there is no replacement draw in the American game to soften it.
Read the full guide: Pung, Kong, Quint, and Pair: The Sets That Make Up Every Hand.
See it on real tiles. The AI coach reads a dealt hand, free, and names the direction it goes for, what to keep and what to pass, at the free read.
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Related: Pung, Quint, Pair, Charleston. All 52 terms.