hold the cards

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English

Alternative forms

hold all the aces, hold all the cards

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

hold the cards (third-person singular simple present holds the cards, present participle holding the cards, simple past and past participle held the cards)

(idiomatic) To be in a strong position, possessing significant advantages over someone else; to be in control of a situation involving multiple parties.
- 1907, R. Austin Freeman, chapter 14, in The Red Thumb Mark:
  "[B]ut if you make conditions I have no choice but to accept them, seeing that you hold the cards."
- 1986 August 17, Peter H. Lewis, “Practical Traveller: Learning the ABC's — as well as the XYZ's — of Flying”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 January 2012:
  Once a ticket is paid for and the airline has your money, it holds the cards.
- 2008 July 10, Megan Lindow, “Why Mugabe and His Foe Are Talking”, in Time:
  "In the short term, from a power perspective, the current Zimbabwe elite is holding the cards," says Steven Friedman, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy.

Usage notes

Often used in the present participial form: holding the cards.

Translations

To be in a strong position

See also

Wikious

Boobota

Sagapedia