Word.ws English Dictionary

plays the hand one is dealt

plays the hand one is dealt is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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

Questions about plays the hand one is dealt

What is plays the hand one is dealt the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Plays the hand one is dealt is the third-person singular simple present indicative of play the hand one is dealt.

Words near plays the hand one is dealt in the dictionary

  1. plays the field
  2. plays the fool
  3. plays the game
  4. plays the giddy goat
  5. plays the giddy ox
  6. plays the hand one is dealt
  7. plays the man
  8. plays the man and not the ball
  9. plays the man not the ball
  10. plays the man, not the ball
  11. plays the mischief with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plays the hand 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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