play with a full deck

Verb

play with a full deck (third-person singular simple present plays with a full deck, present participle playing with a full deck, simple past and past participle played with a full deck)

1. (Canada, US, idiomatic) To behave in a manner suggesting that one is of normal intelligence, alert, and mentally stable.
   • I think we all realize he's not playing with a full deck.1965, George Carlinhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu-trYf96xo#t=268
   • Someday our grandchildren will look up at us and say, "Where were you, Grandma, and what were you doing when you first realized that President Reagan was, er, not playing with a full deck?"1987 April, Barbara Ehrenreich, “The Unfastened Head of State”, in Mother Jones, volume 12, number 3, page 10
2. To play a game with the availability of a team's full roster of players.
   • The Bulls were closer to playing with a full deck Monday night when coach Tom Thibodeau announced that Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol would be in the starting lineup.2014 November 24, Fred Mitchell, “Monday's recap: Bulls 97, Jazz 95”, in Chicago Tribune, retrieved 14 Oct 2015

   Synonyms:

   sane