Word.ws English Dictionary

play the hand one was dealt

play the hand one was dealt is the alternative form of play the hand one is dealt.

Meaning of play the hand one is dealt

Verb

play the hand one is dealt (third-person singular simple present plays the hand one is dealt, present participle playing the hand one is dealt, simple past and past participle played the hand one was dealt)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To use the resources which one actually has available; to operate realistically, within the limits of one's circumstances.
    • "Don't you care. Play the hand that's dealt you and let the boss worry."1919, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 6, in Oh, You Tex

Forms of play the hand one was dealt

third-person singular presentplays the hand one was dealt
present participleplaying the hand one was dealt
past participleplayed the hand one was dealt
pastplayed the hand one was dealt

Questions about play the hand one was dealt

What is play the hand one was dealt the alternative form of?
Play the hand one was dealt is the alternative form of play the hand one is dealt.

Words near play the hand one was dealt in the dictionary

  1. play the giddy goat
  2. play the giddy ox
  3. play the goat
  4. play the hand dealt
  5. play the hand one is dealt
  6. play the hand one was dealt
  7. play the hand that one is dealt
  8. play the hand that one was dealt
  9. play the man
  10. play the man and not the ball
  11. play the man not the ball

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: play the hand one was dealt (page history and authors); play the hand one is dealt (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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