play all one's cards
play all one's cards verb: to use all one's resources.
Verb
play all one's cards (third-person singular simple present plays all one's cards, present participle playing all one's cards, simple past and past participle played all one's cards)
- To use all one's resources.
- I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play1980, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, “The Winner Takes It All”, in Super Trouper, performed by ABBA - We composed a calm email stating our 'interest in football in the region' and desire to 'find out more', deciding not to play all our cards at this stage.2012, Paul Watson, Up Pohnpei
- Synonyms:
- play all one's cards at once
- I've played all my cards
Synonyms of play all one's cards
- play all one's cards at once
Forms of play all one's cards
| third-person singular present | plays all one's cards |
|---|---|
| present participle | playing all one's cards |
| past participle | played all one's cards |
| past | played all one's cards |
Questions about play all one's cards
- What does play all one's cards mean?
- Play all one's cards means to use all one's resources.
- What part of speech is play all one's cards?
- Play all one's cards is a verb.
- What is the past tense of play all one's cards?
- The past tense of play all one's cards is played all one's cards.
Words near play all one's cards in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: play all one's cards (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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