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put one's cards on the table. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
put one's cards on the table, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
put one's cards on the table in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
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)
- (idiomatic) To reveal one's true intentions, beliefs, feelings, or other previously concealed facts about one's situation; to speak frankly.
1899, Henry James, chapter 4, in The Awkward Age:"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."
1915, John Buchan, chapter 4, in The Thirty-Nine Steps:I thought the time had come for me to put my cards on the table. I saw by this man's eye that he was the kind you can trust.
1921, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 10, in Tangled Trails:"Let's put our cards on the table. We think you're the man the police are looking for—the one described in the papers."
2003 May 27, Tony Karon, “Mideast: Can Bush Deliver?”, in Time:Although Sharon has never put all his cards on the table, he's given plenty of indicators that in his vision, a Palestinian state comprises the 40-50 percent of the West Bank currently under PA jurisdiction.
Synonyms
Translations
to reveal one's true intentions