I. card 1 S1 W2 /kɑːd $ kɑːrd/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: French ; Origin: carte , from Old Italian carta 'sheet of paper' , from Latin charta ; ⇨ ↑ chart 1 ]
1 . INFORMATION [countable] a small piece of plastic or paper containing information about a person or showing, for example, that they belong to a particular organization, club etc:
Employees must show their identity cards at the gate.
I haven’t got my membership card yet.
2 . MONEY [countable] a small piece of plastic, especially one that you get from a bank or shop, which you use to pay for goods or to get money:
Lost or stolen cards must be reported immediately.
a £10 phone card
Every time you use your store card, you get air miles.
⇨ ↑ charge card , ↑ cheque card , ↑ credit card , ↑ debit card
3 . GREETINGS [countable] a piece of folded thick stiff paper with a picture on the front, that you send to people on special occasions
birthday/Christmas/greetings etc card
a Mother’s Day card
4 . HOLIDAY [countable] a card with a photograph or picture on one side, that you send to someone when you are on holiday SYN postcard :
I sent you a card from Madrid.
5 . STIFF PAPER [uncountable] British English thick stiff paper ⇨ cardboard :
Cut a piece of white card 12 × 10 cm.
6 . FOR WRITING INFORMATION [countable] a small piece of thick stiff paper that information can be written or printed on:
a set of recipe cards
a score card
7 .
GAMES [countable]
a) a small piece of thick stiff paper with numbers and signs or pictures on one side. There are 52 cards in a set. SYN playing card
pack/deck of cards (=a complete set of cards)
b) a game in which these cards are used:
I’m no good at cards.
We were having a game of cards.
Let’s play cards.
a book of card games
c) a small piece of thick stiff paper with numbers or pictures on them, used to play a particular game:
a set of cards for playing Snap
8 . football/baseball etc card a small piece of thick stiff paper with a picture on one side, that is part of a set which people collect
9 . BUSINESS [countable] a small piece of thick stiff paper that shows your name, job, and the company you work for SYN business card ⇨ visiting card :
My name’s Adam Carver. Here’s my card.
10 . COMPUTER [countable] the thing inside a computer that the ↑ chip s are attached to, that allows the computer to do specific things:
a graphics card
11 . be on the cards British English , be in the cards American English to seem likely to happen:
At 3–1 down, another defeat seemed to be on the cards.
12 . play your cards right to deal with a situation in the right way, so that you are successful in getting what you want:
If he plays his cards right, Tony might get a promotion.
13 . put/lay your cards on the table to tell people what your plans and intentions are in a clear honest way:
What I’d like us to do is put our cards on the table and discuss the situation in a rational manner.
14 . play/keep your cards close to your chest to keep your plans, thoughts, or feelings secret
15 . get/be given your cards British English informal to have your job taken away from you
16 . have another card up your sleeve to have another advantage that you can use to be successful in a particular situation
17 . trump/best/strongest card something that gives you a big advantage in a particular situation:
The promise of tax cuts proved, as always, to be the Republican Party’s trump card.
18 . sb’s card is marked British English if someone’s card is marked, they have done something that makes people in authority disapprove of them
19 . PERSON [countable] old-fashioned informal an amusing or unusual person:
Fred’s a real card, isn’t he!
20 . SPORT [countable] a small piece of stiff red or yellow paper, shown to a player who has done something wrong in a game such as football
21 . LIST AT SPORTS EVENT [countable] a list of races or matches at a sports event, especially a horse race:
a full card of 120 riders for the Veterans race
22 . TAROT [countable] a small piece of thick stiff paper with a special picture on one side, that is put down in a pattern in order to tell someone what will happen in their future
23 . TOOL [countable] technical a tool that is similar to a comb and is used for combing, cleaning, and preparing wool or cotton for ↑ spin ning
⇨ hold all the cards at ↑ hold 1 (30), ⇨ play the race/nationalist/environmentalist etc card at ↑ play 1 (14), ⇨ stack the cards at ↑ stack 2 (4)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ types of card
▪ an identity/ID card (=one that proves who you are)
All US citizens must carry an identity card.
▪ a membership card
Do you have a library membership card?
▪ a student card
Entrance is free if you have a student card.
▪ a medical card (=one that proves who you are when you change doctors)
You will need to bring your medical card.
▪ an appointment card (=one with your appointments on)
The dentist gave me a new appointment card.
▪ a swipe card (=one that you slide through a machine in order to open a door)
Swipe cards are used to enhance security.
▪ a smart card (=one with an electronic part that records information)
Keeping medical records on small plastic smart cards seems to be a success.
▪ a sim card (=one in a mobile phone that allows you to use a network)
You may need a new sim card when you travel abroad.
▪ a donor card (=one that shows you want your organs to be given to someone when you die)
We want to encourage more people to carry a donor card.
■ verbs
▪ carry a card (=have one with you)
Motorists could soon be forced to carry an ID card.
▪ flash a card (=show one very quickly)
He flashed his ID card at the guard and walked straight in.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ types of card
▪ a credit card (=one you use to buy things and pay later)
He had paid by credit card.
▪ a debit card ( also check card American English ) (=one you use to pay for things directly from your account)
The store only accepts debit cards.
▪ a cash card ( also an ATM card especially American English ) (=one you use to get cash from a machine)
You should report stolen cash cards immediately.
▪ a bank/cheque card British English (=one that you must show when you write a cheque)
Always keep your cheque book and cheque card separately.
▪ a charge/store card (=one that allows you to buy things from a particular shop and pay for them later)
Store cards often have high rates of interest.
▪ a phone card (=one that you can use in some public telephones)
You can use this phone card in several countries.
■ card + NOUN
▪ a card number
What's your card number?
▪ the card holder (=the person that a card belongs to)
1 in 10 store card holders owes more than £500.
▪ card fraud (=the illegal use of other people’s cards)
Many consumers are afraid of credit card fraud.
▪ card details (=the information that is on a card)
Hackers stole hundreds of people's card details.
■ verbs
▪ pay by card
Is it all right if I pay by card?
▪ put something on your card (=pay by credit card)
I’ll put the restaurant bill on my card.
▪ use your card
I don’t use a card if I can pay by cash.
▪ accept/take a card (=allow you to pay by card)
Big hotels will accept most cards.
II. card 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Sense 1-2: Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ card 1 ]
[ Sense 3: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: carder , from Late Latin cardus 'thistle' ; because thistles were used for carding wool ]
1 . especially American English to ask someone to show a card proving that they are old enough to do something, especially to buy alcohol
2 . to show a red or yellow card to someone playing a sport such as football, to show that they have done something wrong
3 . to comb, clean, and prepare wool or cotton, before making cloth