card
card1 S1 W2 /kɑːd $ kɑːrd/ 
noun
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 .nbsp;[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 chips 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 spinning
⇨ hold all the cards at hold1(30), ⇨ play the race/nationalist/environmentalist etc card at play1(14), ⇨ stack the cards at stack2(4)
■ 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.
■ 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.
card2 verb [transitive]
Language: French
Origin: carder, from Late Latin cardus 'thistle'; because thistles were used for carding wool1. 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
| I |
noun Date: 1400-1500
Language: French
Origin: carte, from Old Italian carta 'sheet of paper', from Latin charta; ⇨ chart1
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:Language: French
Origin: carte, from Old Italian carta 'sheet of paper', from Latin charta; ⇨ chart1
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:
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
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:
5. STIFF PAPER [uncountable] British English thick stiff paper ⇨ cardboard:
6. FOR WRITING INFORMATION [countable] a small piece of thick stiff paper that information can be written or printed on:
7.
GAMES .nbsp;[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:
c. a small piece of thick stiff paper with numbers or pictures on them, used to play a particular game:
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:
10. COMPUTER [countable] the thing inside a computer that the chips are attached to, that allows the computer to do specific things:
11. be on the cards British English, be in the cards American English to seem likely to happen:
12. play your cards right to deal with a situation in the right way, so that you are successful in getting what you want:
13. put/lay your cards on the table to tell people what your plans and intentions are in a clear honest way:
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:
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:
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:
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 spinning
⇨ hold all the cards at hold1(30), ⇨ play the race/nationalist/environmentalist etc card at play1(14), ⇨ stack the cards at stack2(4)
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verb [transitive] Sense 3
Date: 1300-1400Language: French
Origin: carder, from Late Latin cardus 'thistle'; because thistles were used for carding wool
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