~ 1
■ noun
1》 thick, stiff paper or thin ~board.
2》 a piece of ~ for writing on, especially a post~ or greetings ~.
↘a business ~ or visiting ~.
3》 a small rectangular piece of plastic containing machine-readable personal data, e.g. a credit ~ or cash ~.
4》 a playing ~.
↘( ~s ) [treated as sing. ] a game played with playing ~s.
5》 ( ~s ) Brit. informal documents relating to an employee, especially for tax and national insurance, held by the employer.
6》 a score~, in particular a list of holes on a golf course.
↘a programme of events at a race meeting.
7》 Computing a circuit board that can be inserted in a computer to give extra facilities.
8》 informal, dated or N. Amer. a person regarded as odd or amusing.
■ verb
1》 write (something) on a ~, especially for indexing.
2》 N. Amer. check the identity ~ of (someone), especially to verify their age.
Phrases
a ~ up one's sleeve Brit. a plan or asset that is kept secret until it is needed.
give someone their ~s (or get one's ~s ) Brit. informal dismiss someone (or be dismissed) from employment.
hold all the ~s be in a very strong position.
on (or N. Amer. in ) the ~s informal possible or likely.
play the —— ~ exploit the specified issue or idea mentioned, especially for political advantage: he saw an opportunity to play the peace ~.
play one's ~s right make the best use of one's assets and opportunities.
put (or lay ) one's ~s on the table be completely open in declaring one's intentions.
Origin
ME: from OFr. carte , from L. carta , charta , from Gk khartēs 'papyrus leaf'.
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~ 2
■ verb comb and clean (raw wool or similar material) with a sharp-toothed instrument to disentangle the fibres before spinning.
■ noun a toothed implement or machine for this purpose.
Derivatives
~er noun
Origin
ME: from OFr. ~e , from Provençal ~a , from ~ar 'tease, comb', based on L. carere 'to ~'.