card
Pluralcards
Pluralcards
- 1Any flat, normally rectangular piece of stiff paper, plastic, or similar material.
Before online catalogs, librarians kept a typed card for every book in rows of long wooden drawers.
A laminated card next to the phone listed every emergency number.
- 2A piece of plastic issued by a bank or store, such as a credit or debit card, that the holder uses to pay for things or withdraw cash.
The machine at the register declined my card, so I had to pay in cash.
We accept all major cards, but there is a small fee on purchases under ten dollars.
UsagePay by card or pay with a card, like pay in cash; a purchase goes on your card.
- 3A small card showing a person's details, used to prove who they are or that they are a member of a club, library, or organization.
Visitors must show a valid card with a photo before they are allowed into the building.
Members scan their cards at the entrance before using the pool.
UsageThe kind is usually named first: ID card, library card, membership card; you show or scan your card.
Note
The verb to card someone is this card put to work: a bartender who cards a customer is asking to see proof of age, and a young-looking adult expects to get carded.
- 4One of a set of small, usually rectangular pieces of stiff paper or plastic marked with suits, numbers, or pictures, used for playing games.
She drew a card from the top of the deck and frowned at her hand.
Fifty-two cards make up a standard deck, divided into four suits.
UsageYou draw, deal and play cards; a full set is a deck of cards or a pack of cards.
Note
The meaning the word arrived with: Middle English carde, 'playing card', came through Old French carte and Latin charta from Greek khártēs, 'paper, papyrus'. At bottom, then, a card is a piece of paper, and chart is its doublet, the same Latin word reaching English by another route. Time put the game's logic plainly in 1963: in blackjack every card played shrinks and reshapes what can still be dealt.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Card entered English as Middle English carde, meaning 'playing card', through Old French carte and Latin charta from Greek khártēs, meaning 'paper, papyrus'. en.wiktionary.org
- The underlying Latin word denotes paper or a sheet of paper. en.wiktionary.org
- Chart is a doublet of card, reaching English through Middle French charte from the same Latin source. en.wiktionary.org
- Time explained in 1963 that each card played in blackjack changes the possibilities by reducing the number and variety of cards remaining to be dealt. content.time.com
- 5A decorated, folded piece of stiff paper bearing a printed or handwritten message, sent or given to mark a birthday, holiday, or other occasion.
The mantel was crowded with cards congratulating the couple on their anniversary.
She mails a card to every cousin each December.
UsageUsually named by the occasion: a birthday card, a thank-you card; you send, give or sign one.
- 6A removable electronic component inserted into a computer or other powered device to add capability, such as graphics, sound, or network access.
He installed a faster card to improve the workstation's video performance.
The router failed after one of its cards burned out.
UsageUsually named by its job: a graphics card, a sound card, a network card.
Similarboard
Note
The word refers to a physical part you can pull out and replace. Do not confuse it with the on-screen card, which is a page of an interface.
- 7A small printed rectangle bearing a person's name, position, and contact information, exchanged in professional settings.
After the conference, my pocket was stuffed with cards from potential clients.
The consultant slid her card across the table before leaving the meeting.
UsageOften called a business card; people give someone their card or exchange cards.
- 8A game itself that is played with a pack of playing cards, such as poker, bridge, or solitaire, or such games in general.
The sailors passed the long voyage playing cards below deck.
Tuesday's card night drew half the retirement home to the lounge.
UsageSay play cards, with cards plural; the singular usually comes before nouns: a card game, card night.
- 9The list of matches, fights, or races at a sporting event, such as a boxing or wrestling show or a race meeting.
Tonight's card features five matches, ending with a championship bout.
The promoter reshuffled the card after the champion pulled out with an injury.
- 10Ellipsis of report card, chiefly in the Philippines.
She hid her card in her backpack until she could explain the failing grade.
His card showed straight A's, so his parents took him out for pizza.
UsageElsewhere, say report card in full; the bare word may not be understood.
Note
A Philippine school usage in which report drops away and card alone means the record of grades a student brings home at the end of a term, as in 'Where's your card? I want to see your grades.'
- 11A printed form for recording the score of a game or contest, such as a golfer's strokes, the points a boxing judge awards, or each batsman's runs and manner of dismissal in a cricket innings.
He was disqualified after signing an incorrect card at the end of the second round.
One judge scored the fight a draw, but the other two had the challenger winning on their cards.
Similarscorecard
Note
A golfer signs the card when the round is over, and signing for a wrong score can mean disqualification; reports of the round then use the scoring verb: she carded a 68. In a boxing bout scored by three judges, each keeps one, so a fighter is ahead on the cards, or wins on all three cards, without a knockout.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- A golfer certifies the scorecard after completing a round in stroke play. randa.org
- Signing for an incorrect score can result in disqualification. randa.org
- Three judges score bouts under the Unified Rules of Boxing, but this is not universal: some British contests are scored by the referee alone. bbbofc.com
- A boxer can win through the judges' scoring without a knockout. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 12A resource or argument that someone uses to achieve a purpose.
The union's strongest card was the threat of a strike during the holiday rush.
He played the loyalty card, reminding his boss of ten years of faithful service.
UsageUsually play the + issue + card, as in play the sympathy card; it often accuses someone of exploiting that issue.
- 13To check someone's identification, especially to confirm that they meet a minimum age requirement.
Bars near campus card every customer at the door.
Security carded the whole group, even the gray-haired chaperone.
UsageOften passive: get carded at a bar; elsewhere ask for ID is the safer phrasing.
SimilarID
Note
An American verb built on the ID card and heard at the door of a bar or liquor store. In Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Ted is surprised that 'he didn't even card us'.
- 14Someone whose humor and often slightly eccentric ways make them fun to be around.
My old roommate was a card, forever staging elaborate pranks on the neighbors.
Everyone at the office considered him a card, always good for a story at lunch.
UsageUsually a real card or quite a card, said fondly; also as teasing address: you card!
Similarcharacter, joker, wag, clown
Note
In Siegfried Sassoon's The General (1918), a soldier tells his comrade the general is 'a cheery old card', and the poem's last line turns the phrase bitter.
- 15One of a set of pages or forms in a user interface that the user can navigate between and fill with data.
Each card in the signup flow collects a different piece of information.
Swipe left to reach the card where you enter payment details.
Note
Interface design borrowed the whole card table. In Apple's HyperCard, screens were cards and a set of them was a stack. Johan Hjelm's Why IPTV? (2008) traces the mobile WAP model back to HyperCard. In WML, a card does the job an HTML page does on the web, and the device shows one at a time. Keep it apart from the plug-in hardware.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Interface terminology uses a metaphor involving cards and collections of cards. wapforum.org
- Apple's HyperCard represented visual pages as cards grouped into stacks. loc.gov
- Johan Hjelm is the author of Why IPTV?, published in 2008. catalogimages.wiley.com
- Hjelm traces WAP's interaction model, originally developed for mobile phones, to Apple's HyperCard. catalogimages.wiley.com
- A WML card functions as a user-facing page. w3.org
- The device displays one WML card at a time. msuniv.ac.in
- 16Paper that is thicker and more durable than ordinary writing or printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other paperboard; card stock, used for postcards and playing cards.
Menus printed on glossy card hold up better than ones printed on plain paper.
She folded a piece of card into a small stand for her phone.
UsageAsk for some card or a sheet of card, as with paper; a card means a piece already cut.
Similarcardstock
- 17To finish with a particular score, as entered on one's scorecard, especially in golf.
Four shots back, he will need to card a 66 or better on Sunday to have a chance at the title.
She carded a 68 in the final round to win the tournament.
UsageTakes the score as its object, usually in the past: she carded a 68; mostly in golf reports.
- 18A piece of printed text filmed and edited into a movie or program's action to convey character dialogue or narrative information; an intertitle or title card.
A card flashed between scenes to explain that ten years had passed.
Silent films cut to a card whenever a character delivered an important line.
Similarintertitle, caption
Note
Production shorthand for a title card or intertitle. These screens of text can convey dialogue or narrative information, mark sections, or introduce or conclude a film or program. Traditionally, filmmakers could letter the text on a physical card, film it separately, and insert the footage between shots.
- 19A hand-held tool resembling a hairbrush but with wire bristles, used to untangle, clean, and straighten raw fibers such as wool or cotton before spinning.
Working a card in each hand, she drew the fleece back and forth until the fibers lay parallel.
Bits of straw and dirt collected in the card's wire teeth as she worked.
Note
The spinner's tool, often worked as a pair: one card in each hand, with the fleece drawn between them until the fibers lie straight. Its job is preparation rather than spinning, and the yarn is made afterward on a wheel or spindle. The verb to card comes from this tool, and its separate origin is told under the bristled material.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Hand cards are used in pairs to brush and align wool fibers. en.wikipedia.org
- Carding prepares wool for subsequent spinning. parks.ca.gov
- The prepared fibers can subsequently be spun using a wheel or spindle. en.wikipedia.org
- The textile verb derives ultimately from the tool name and belongs to a different origin from paper card. en.wiktionary.org
- 20An attraction or inducement, something likely to draw interest or bring people in.
With late hours and free parking, the night market has become a major drawing card for the downtown area.
Organizers were counting on the celebrity chef to be a drawing card strong enough to sell out opening night.
UsageMostly heard today in drawing card, as in a big drawing card; draw or attraction is the plain word.
Similardraw, attraction, lure, magnet
Note
Turned outward, the card-table figure becomes a crowd-puller. Where the card one plays serves its holder, this one draws other people in, as in 'a good card for the last day of the fair' or a sure card for a showman.
- 21To play cards as a pastime.
For Corinius, who gave not a fig for music or dirges, but liked well of carding and dicing, had brought forth his dice box to play with the son of Corund.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A RomanceNote
A dated verb that folds play cards into one word, and it sounds most at home in pairings like carding and dicing. E. R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros (1922) uses exactly that phrase, with a deliberately antique flavor. In ordinary modern English, say play cards, because carding today is more likely to be heard as the wool-combing verb.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- E. R. Eddison wrote The Worm Ouroboros. en.wikisource.org
- The Worm Ouroboros was first published in 1922. en.wikisource.org
- The novel contains the exact phrase carding and dicing. gutenberg.org
- 22A still image broadcast by a television station so that picture quality, color, and transmission can be checked and adjusted.
Before broadcasts began each morning, the station transmitted a card so technicians could adjust their equipment.
Viewers who tuned in after midnight saw only a card of color bars and gray squares.
- 23A brief published note containing a short statement, explanation, request, or expression of thanks.
After the funeral, the widow placed a card of thanks in the county paper.
The candidate published a card denying any connection with the failed bank.
Similarnotice, statement, announcement
Note
A dated newspaper convention: one 'put a card in the newspapers', a short public notice over one's own name. It might thank mourners after a funeral, deny a rumor, or make a request. The phrase card of thanks preserves the use. In modern writing, notice or public statement does the same job without sounding old-fashioned.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Putting a card in the newspapers was an established expression for publishing a brief public note. gutenberg.org
- Such newspaper notices could appear under the writer's own name. tile.loc.gov
- A newspaper card could thank people for their support following a death, under the heading Card of Thanks. tile.loc.gov
- A published card could deny a rumor. tile.loc.gov
- A published card could contain a request. en.wiktionary.org
- Card of thanks preserves this newspaper-notice sense. tile.loc.gov
- 24A machine for disentangling and straightening the fibers of wool in preparation for spinning.
The card hummed all day, turning matted fleece into soft, even slivers.
When the card jammed, the whole spinning room fell idle.
Note
Industry gave the hand tool's name to the machine that did its work, with wire teeth on moving surfaces doing what the hand card did in pairs. In the textile trade the bare word is still the usual name for the machine. Carding machine is the fuller term and avoids any confusion with the hand tool.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The machine took over the hand tool’s name and work. en.wikipedia.org
- Carding machines work with wire teeth on moving surfaces. govinfo.gov
- Hand cards were used in pairs. en.wikipedia.org
- 'Card' remains current in textile manufacturing, including for machines processing wool. autefa.com
- 25Material with short wire bristles embedded in its surface.
The mill replaced the worn card on its rollers every few seasons.
Fine card with closely set teeth produced a smoother, cleaner fiber.
Note
Like the other wool-working senses, this comes from a different word altogether. It came through Old French carde and Old Occitan carda, back to Latin carō, 'to comb with a card', and a root meaning 'to cut'. Only the spelling is shared with the paper card. As a bare mass noun for the bristled material it is dated, and card clothing is the fuller trade name.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The textile word came through Old French carde and Old Occitan carda, ultimately from Latin carō and a root meaning 'to cut'. en.wiktionary.org
- The textile word has a different origin from the paper word. en.wiktionary.org
- 26A map or chart, as of the land, the seas, or the heavens.
Note
An obsolete use that stays close to the word's paper origin, the root it shares with chart, told under the playing card. In Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590), a pilot fixes his eye 'vpon his card and compas', pairing chart and compass as a navigator's tools. In older verse, read it as map or chart. It is not a word to revive in modern prose.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Card has a paper-related origin and shares its root with chart. en.wiktionary.org
- Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene. en.wikipedia.org
- The Faerie Queene, including Book II containing this passage, was first published in 1590. en.wikisource.org
- The poem describes a pilot fixing his eye upon his card and compass, using the quoted wording. en.wikisource.org
- Card means map or navigational chart in this passage. en.wiktionary.org
- 27In formal debating, a verbatim citation from a published source, read aloud as evidence to support a point.
- 28A perforated plate of pasteboard or sheet metal that controls the warp threads in the Jacquard mechanism of a loom.
- 29Ellipsis of compass card.
- 30In graph theory, a graph obtained from a given graph by deleting a single vertex.
- 31A diagram traced by an engine indicator, recording the pressure inside a cylinder through each stroke of the engine.
- 32A tool with rows of wire teeth, used to brush up the soft surface fibers of cloth.
- 33The soft, untwisted strand of fiber, often wool, that comes out of a carding machine before spinning.
- 34To comb raw wool or other fiber with a toothed tool so that the strands lie straight and untangled, ready to be spun.
- 35To rip a person's skin with an iron comb in order to torture them.
- 36To clean something out or clear it away, as though combing it with a carding tool.
It is necessary that this book carded and purged of certain base things.
1612, Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote - 37To blend one thing into another, especially to mix something good with something weaker or poorer.
that card your beer, if you see your guests begin to be drunk, half small and half strong
1592, Robert Greene, A Quip for an Upstart Courtier - 38A short informal name for the cardinal, a North American songbird.
- 39An old spelling of chard, the leafy green vegetable.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Ancient Greek khártēs ("paper, papyrus") became Latin charta and then Old French carte, which Middle English took as carde ("playing card"). Chart is a doublet.
The chain starts with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ("to cut"), source of Latin carō ("to comb with a card") and Late Latin *carito. That gave the Old Occitan verb cardar, whose noun carda passed into Old French and Middle English as carde.