wild card
noun
1
: an unknown or unpredictable factor
2
: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined
3
usually wildcard
: a symbol (such as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters
Examples of wild card in a Sentence
The joker is a wild card.
Taxes are the wild card in this election.
The team made it into the play-offs as the wild card.
Recent Examples on the Web
New York currently owns an 80-76 record and is tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the third and final NL wild card spot.
—
Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2025
The Reds and Mets both have an 80-76 record with six games to play; the only thing currently separating the two teams in the race for the National League’s final wild card spot is Cincinnati’s head-to-head tiebreaker.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 23 Sep. 2025
The Yankees have the second-best record, but are currently in a wild card spot thanks to their spot in the AL East standings.
—Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2025
The Tigers would almost certainly be out of the top wild card spot with the New York Yankees firmly ahead in the AL wild card race, which means Detroit's shot at a postseason berth without a division title would be as the second or third wild card.
—Christian Romo, Freep.com, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wild card
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Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2025
The Reds and Mets both have an 80-76 record with six games to play; the only thing currently separating the two teams in the race for the National League’s final wild card spot is Cincinnati’s head-to-head tiebreaker.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 23 Sep. 2025
The Yankees have the second-best record, but are currently in a wild card spot thanks to their spot in the AL East standings.
—Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2025
The Tigers would almost certainly be out of the top wild card spot with the New York Yankees firmly ahead in the AL wild card race, which means Detroit's shot at a postseason berth without a division title would be as the second or third wild card.
—Christian Romo, Freep.com, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wild card
Cite this Entry
“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 28 Sep. 2025.
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