CARD


Meaning of CARD in English

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

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.