card

card1 [ kard ] noun ***

▸ 1 for paying/getting money

▸ 2 with information

▸ 3 for sending greetings

▸ 4 for playing games

▸ 5 something giving an advantage

▸ 6 in a computer

▸ 7 someone who makes you laugh

▸ 8 thick stiff paper

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) count a small flat piece of plastic used for getting money from a bank, ATM, etc. or for buying things. You are usually given a special number, called a PIN number, with your card so that you can get money from a machine:

I gave the waiter my card.

She produced her Visa card and paid the bill.

a ) a PHONE CARD

2. ) count a small piece of thick stiff paper or plastic that shows who you are and that you have authority or permission to do something:

I handed the assistant my library card.

I can't find my membership card for the health club.

flash a card (=show someone a card quickly): They said they were from the gas company and flashed cards at us.

a ) a small piece of thick stiff paper with your name, your job, and the name of your company printed on it: BUSINESS CARD:

Let me give you my card.

b ) a piece of thick stiff paper on which you record information about something:

I looked at my score card.

c ) a piece of thick stiff paper with printed information on it, usually part of a set:

a collection of recipe cards

d ) a list of the sports events that are planned to take place at a particular time:

There are six events on the card today.

3. ) count a piece of thick stiff paper folded into two equal parts, with a picture and a message on it: GREETING CARD:

She sent me a lovely card on my birthday.

a card says/reads something: The card read, Get Well Soon! Love from all at the office.

birthday/Christmas/get-well, etc. card: Did we get a Christmas card from your brother this year?

a ) a POSTCARD:

I scribbled a quick card to my parents.

4. ) count one of a set of 52 small pieces of thick stiff paper used for various games. The set is called a pack or deck and is divided into four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades: PLAYING CARD

a ) cards plural the activity of playing games with a set of 52 cards:

I've always been lucky at cards.

play cards: Let's play cards this evening.

game of cards: There's time for a quick game of cards.

b ) count one of a set of small pieces of thick stiff paper used in games or activities such as TAROT

c ) the cards plural PLAYING CARDS or TAROT used for trying to discover what will happen in the future:

The cards never lie.

She said she had seen our future in the cards.

5. ) count something that gives you an advantage in doing something:

someone's strongest/best/trump/winning card: His strongest card was his friendship with the prince.

6. ) count COMPUTING a part inside a computer that holds a CHIP:

You'll have to install a new ethernet card.

7. ) count INFORMAL OLD-FASHIONED someone who makes you laugh

8. ) uncount BRITISH thick stiff paper, thinner than CARDBOARD

the cards are stacked against someone INFORMAL

used for saying that someone will probably fail

the cards are stacked in someone's favor INFORMAL

used for saying that someone will probably be successful

have a card up your sleeve

to have a secret advantage that you can use later

hold/have all the cards

to be in a good position when you are competing against someone because you have all the advantages

hold/keep/play your cards close to your chest

to not tell people what you are thinking or planning

(if you) play your cards right INFORMAL

used for saying that if someone does something right and is lucky, they might get what they want

in the cards

very likely to happen

lay/put your cards on the table

to tell people exactly what you are thinking or what you are intending to do

play the...card

to use a particular quality, argument, etc in order to gain an advantage:

politicians who play the nationalist card in order to get votes

card

card 2 [ kard ] verb transitive

1. ) AMERICAN to ask someone to show a document that proves their age, especially in a bar

2. ) MAINLY JOURNALISM to achieve a particular score, especially in golf:

Vickery finished third after carding a score of 68.

3. ) to give a player a RED CARD or YELLOW CARD in soccer, for bad behavior

4. ) to pull a tool like a COMB through wool or cotton to make it ready for spinning