Word.ws English Dictionary

play the hand that one is dealt

play the hand that one is 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 that one is dealt

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

Questions about play the hand that one is dealt

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

Words near play the hand that one is dealt in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: play the hand that one is 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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