cards

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of card.

   The dealer slid the cards across the felt to each player.

   He keeps his old baseball cards in plastic sleeves.

   Note

   A regular plural that only fits the countable card: playing cards, baseball cards, business cards. The material itself, card as stiff stock thicker than paper, is uncountable, so an invitation is printed on card, not on cards. The plural comes back once you count the pieces. A different use of the same form is the name of the game, which behaves quite differently in a sentence.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   Games played using a standard deck of cards, such as poker, bridge, or rummy.

   The old sailors passed the long voyage playing cards below deck.

   She taught her grandchildren cards on rainy afternoons.

   Note

   A plural form that works as the singular name of a pastime, the way chess or tennis does. When it names the game it takes a singular verb (Cards is my favorite game), and it needs no article: people play cards, are fans of cards, teach a child cards. With the ordinary plural, the cards are objects on the table and the verb is plural.

   Cards is the only game my grandfather never tires of.

   For the family, cards was how a long winter evening passed.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of card.

   The doorman cards each guest at the entrance to the club.

   The mill worker cards the raw wool before it is spun into yarn.

   Note

   One -s form serves verbs as far apart as checking IDs and combing wool: in American use a bouncer cards a guest, and a spinner cards raw fleece. Both meanings are transitive and take a direct object, while the dated "play cards" use stands alone. The form is spelled the same as the noun plural, so only its place in the sentence tells he cards from the cards.

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