keeping one's cards close to one's chest

Verb

keep one's cards close to one's chest (third-person singular simple present keeps one's cards close to one's chest, present participle keeping one's cards close to one's chest, simple past and past participle kept one's cards close to one's chest)

1. (figuratively, idiomatic) To avoid revealing one's thoughts, circumstances, or plans.
   • Balthus has always kept his cards close to his chest. When I asked him if Summertime was a transcription of Poussin's Echo and Narcissus—a variant of his lost copy—he did not reply.1997, Sabine Rewald, “Balthus's Magic Mountain”, in The Burlington Magazine, volume 139, number 1134, page 626

   Synonyms:

   keep one's counsel, chest one's cards

2. (literal) To hold one's hand close to one's chest so that other players cannot see the cards.