card

1 noun

1 library/membership/identity etc card a small piece of plastic or paper that shows that someone belongs to a particular organization, club etc: Employees must show their ID cards at the gate.

2 BIRTHDAY/CHRISTMAS ETC (C) a piece of thick stiff paper with a picture on the front, that you send to people on special occasions: Did you remember to send Val a birthday card?

3 HOLIDAY (C) a card with a photograph or picture on one side, that you send to someone when you are on holiday; postcard: Don't forget to send us a card from Greece!

4 INFORMATION (C) a small piece of stiff paper or plastic that shows information about someone or something, especially one that is part of a set used for storing information: a card index system | an expansion card for 386 machines

5 STIFF PAPER (U) BrE thick stiff paper

6 BANK (C) a small piece of plastic that you use to pay for goods or to get money from a special machine at a bank: Lost or stolen cards must be reported immediately.

- see also: charge card, cheque card, credit card

7 GAMES (C) a small piece of thick stiff paper with numbers and signs or pictures on, that is one of a set of fifty two used to play games such as poker (1) or bridge 1 (4): play cards (=play a game with cards) | pack of cards (=a complete set of cards)

8 cigarette/football/baseball etc card a small piece of thick stiff paper with a picture on one side that is part of a set which people collect

9 BUSINESS (C) a small piece of thick stiff paper that shows your name, job, and the company you work for; business card; visiting card: I'll leave my card and you can contact me when it suits you.

10 be on the cards BrE be in the cards AmE to seem likely to happen: Another resignation could be on the cards.

11 play your cards right to deal with a situation in the right way so that you are successful in getting what you want: If he plays his cards right Tony might get a promotion.

12 put/lay your cards on the table to tell people what your plans and intentions are in a clear, honest way: I think it's time I put my cards on the table. You see, I'm not really a student.

13 play/keep your cards close to your chest to keep your plans, thoughts, or feelings secret

14 hold all the cards informal to have all the advantages in a particular situation so that you can control what happens

15 get/be given your cards BrE informal to have your job taken away from you

16 have another card up your sleeve to have another advantage that you can use to be successful in a particular situation

17 best/strongest/winning/trump card something that gives you a big advantage in a particular situation: The promise of tax cuts proved, as always, to be the Republican Party's trump card.

18 sb's card is marked if someone's card is marked, they have done something that makes people in authority disapprove of them

19 AMUSING/UNUSUAL PERSON (singular) old-fashioned an amusing or unusual person: Old Fred's a real card, isn't he!

20 (C) the thing inside a computer that the chips (chip1 (4a)) are fixed to, that allows the computer to do specific things

21 TOOL (C) technical a tool that is similar to a comb and is used for combing, cleaning and preparing wool or cotton for spinning (spin1 (2))

22 FOOTBALL (C) a small piece of stiff red or yellow paper, shown to a player who has done something wrong in a game of football

2 verb (T)

1 to comb, clean, and prepare wool or cotton, before making cloth

2 AmE to ask someone to show a card proving that they are old enough to be in a particular place, especially a bar