have the cards

A form of have the cards in one's hands — To have the initiative for, or the means of, success; to be in a position to control the outcome.

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Meanings

verbhave the cards (third-person singular simple present has the cards, present participle having the cards, simple past and past participle had the cards)

present singular third person has the cards · participle present having the cards · participle past had the cards · past had the cards

  1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of have the cards in one's hands.

    “I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine. And they don’t have the cards,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.

    2025 March 7, Andrew Roth, Luke Harding, quoting Donald Trump, “Trump says it is ‘easier’ to deal with Russia and Putin ‘wants to end the war’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
have the cards in one's hands
Cite this entry
APA

have the cards. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20the%20cards

MLA

“have the cards.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20the%20cards. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have the cards,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20the%20cards.

Source: have the cards on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.