wait for the middle tile of a run to complete a hand
Mahjong term: a wait pattern where you have two tiles of a three-tile straight (e.g., 4 and 6) and need the middle tile (5) to finish the run. Also called a 'closed wait' or 'kanchan wait'.
A kanchan wait is harder to win on than a ryanmen wait.
He declared riichi with a kanchan wait.
Standard kanji spelling for this mahjong term.
Common mixed kana-kanji spelling; 嵌張 is often written in katakana in mahjong contexts.
From mahjong terminology: 嵌 (kan, 'insert/fit in') + 張 (chan, from 張る 'to stretch/be on the lookout') + 待ち (machi, 'wait'). The reading カンチャン is a Sino-Japanese compound reading.