card
1 of 5noun (1)
ˈkärd 
1
: playing card
2
cards plural in form but singular or plural in construction
a
: a game played with cards
b
: card playing
3
a
: something (such as an advantage) compared to a valuable playing card in one's hand
holding all the cards in negotiations
b
: an issue especially with emotional appeal that is brought into play to achieve a desired end (such as winning a political campaign)
played the race card
4
a
: greeting card
a birthday card
b
: a flat stiff usually small and rectangular piece of material (such as paper, cardboard, or plastic) usually bearing information: such as
(1)
: postcard
(2)
: credit card
(3)
: business card
(4)
: one bearing a picture (as of a baseball player) on one side and usually statistical data on the other
(5)
: one on which computer information is stored (as in the form of punched holes or magnetic encoding)
(6)
: one bearing electronic circuit components for insertion into a larger electronic device (such as a computer)
(7)
: visiting card
c
: program
especially : a sports program
three fights on the card
d(1)
: a wine list
(2)
: menu
5
informal + old-fashioned : a usually clownishly amusing person : wag
He's such a card!
6
: compass card
card
2 of 5verb (1)
carded; carding; cards
transitive verb
1
: to ask for identification (as in a bar)
We all got carded.
2
: score
a golfer carding a 75
3
: to place or fasten on or by means of a card
4
: to provide with a card
5
: to list or record on a card
card
3 of 5verb (2)
carded; carding; cards
transitive verb
: to cleanse, disentangle, and collect together (fibers) by the use of cards preparatory to spinning
carder noun
card
4 of 5noun (2)
1
: an instrument or machine for carding fibers that consists usually of bent wire teeth set closely in rows in a thick piece of leather fastened to a back
2
: an implement for raising a nap on cloth
card
5 of 5abbreviation
cardinal
Synonyms
Noun (1)
- menu
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English carde, from Anglo-French, alteration of Middle French carte, probably from Old Italian carta, literally, leaf of paper, from Latin charta leaf of papyrus, from Greek chartēs
Noun (2)
Middle English carde, from Medieval Latin cardus, carduus, thistle, carding instrument, from Latin carduus thistle — more at chard
First Known Use
Noun (1)
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb (1)
1861, in the meaning defined at sense 3
Verb (2)
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Noun (2)
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing card
Kids Definition
card
noun
ˈkärd
1
: a decorated piece of thick paper that contains a greeting or is used to write a message
birthday card
note card
2
: a thick stiff piece of paper or plastic that contains information about a person or business
I lost my library card.
3
: playing card
4
cards plural : a game played with playing cards
5
: trading card
6
: credit card
7
: a thin hard board that has small electronic devices on it and that can be added to a computer to make the computer perform different tasks
a video card
in the cards
phrase
variants also on the cards
as in sure
impossible to avoid or evade They knew a career as a ballet dancer wasn't in the cards for their clumsy daughter. Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- sure
- necessary
- possible
- likely
- certain
- inevitable
- in the bag
- destined
- unavoidable
- inescapable
- unescapable
- ineludible
- ineluctable
- definite
- probable
- settled
- fated
- decided
- predetermined
- preordained
- unremitting
- foreordained
- predestined
- unstoppable
- relentless
- inexorable
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- uncertain
- doubtful
- unsure
- questionable
- unclear
- evadable
- avoidable
- dubious
- shaky
- preventable
- undecided
- unlikely
- unsettled
- preventible
- unreliable
- improbable
- undependable