Word.ws English Dictionary

putting one's cards on the table

putting one's cards on the table is the present participle and gerund of put one's cards on the table.

Meaning of put one's cards on the table

Verb

put one's cards on the table (third-person singular simple present puts one's cards on the table, present participle putting one's cards on the table, simple past and past participle put one's cards on the table)

  1. (idiomatic) To reveal one's true intentions, beliefs, feelings, or other previously concealed facts about one's situation; to speak frankly.
    • "We needn't either of us," she continued, "be concerned for the other's reasons, though I'm perfectly ready, I assure you, to put my cards on the table."1899, Henry James, chapter 4, in The Awkward Age

Questions about putting one's cards on the table

What is putting one's cards on the table the present participle and gerund of?
Putting one's cards on the table is the present participle and gerund of put one's cards on the table.

Words near putting one's cards on the table in the dictionary

  1. putting one past
  2. putting one's ass on the line
  3. putting one's back into
  4. putting one's best foot foremost
  5. putting one's best foot forward
  6. putting one's cards on the table
  7. putting one's ducks in a row
  8. putting one's feet up
  9. putting one's finger in a hole
  10. putting one's finger in the dyke
  11. putting one's finger on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: putting one's cards on the table (page history and authors); put one's cards on the table (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “putting one's cards on the table.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/putting_one%27s_cards_on_the_table. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.