put one's cards on the table en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
An allusion to playing a card game where keeping one's cards hidden is advantageous.
Meanings
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(idiomatic) To reveal one's true intentions, beliefs, feelings, or other previously concealed facts about one's situation; to speak frankly.
Although Sharon has never put all his cards on the table, he's given plenty of indicators that in his vision, a Palestinian state comprises the 40-50 percent of the West Bank currently under PA jurisdiction.
2003 May 27, Tony Karon, “Mideast: Can Bush Deliver?”, in Time:"Let's put our cards on the table. We think you're the man the police are looking for—the one described in the papers."
1921, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 10, in Tangled Trails:I thought the time had come for me to put my cards on the table. I saw by this man's eye that he was the kind you can trust.
1915, John Buchan, chapter 4, in The Thirty-Nine Steps:"We needn't either of us," she continued, "be concerned for the other's reasons, though I'm perfectly ready, I assure you, to put my cards on the table."
1899, Henry James, chapter 4, in The Awkward Age:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| putting one's cards on the table | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| put it all on the table | alternative | lexicographic | |
| lay one's cards on the table | alternative | lexicographic | |
| put it on the table | alternative | lexicographic | |
| put one's cards on the table | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| put one's cards on the table | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| puts one's cards on the table | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| place one's cards on the table | alternative | lexicographic |
Synonyms
show one's cards · show one's hand
Translations (11)
pl wykładać karty na stół (to reveal one's true intentions) · ru раскры́ть ка́рты (to reveal one's true intentions) · fi lyödä kortit pöytään (to reveal one's true intentions) · zh 摊牌 (to reveal one's true intentions) · nl zijn kaarten op tafel leggen (to reveal one's true intentions) · it mettere le carte in tavola (to reveal one's true intentions) · de die Karten auf den Tisch legen (to reveal one's true intentions) · pl wyłożyć karty na stół (to reveal one's true intentions) · fr abattre ses cartes (to reveal one's true intentions) · fr abattre son jeu (to reveal one's true intentions) · nl het achterste van zijn tong laten zien (to reveal one's true intentions)