plural cards
1
a
: playing card
a deck/pack of cards
card tricks
b
cards plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: a game played with cards : card game
playing cards all afternoon
a game of cards
also
: the activity of playing games with cards : card playing
lost at cards
2
a
: something (such as an advantage or opportunity) compared to a valuable playing card in one's hand
holding all the cards in negotiations
Things seem pretty grim but we still have some cards to play.
b
: an issue especially with emotional appeal that is brought into play in order to achieve a desired end (such as winning a political campaign)
played the victim card
3
a
: greeting card
a birthday card
a get-well card
b
: postcard
4
: a small flat rectangular piece of stiff material (such as plastic) that is used to buy goods or services or to make basic banking transactions (as at an ATM)
pay with cash or a card
an ATM card
Swipe or scan your card to pay.
see also bank card, credit card, debit card, gift card
5
a
: a small flat rectangular piece of material (such as paper, cardboard, or plastic) bearing information: such as
(1)
(2)
: a card providing information about a person's relationship to an institution, service provider, business, etc.
a membership/library card
an appointment card
(3)
dated
: visiting card
b
: a small rectangular piece of thick paper that is used for writing down information
made notes on 3"x5" cards
see also index card, note card
6
: trading card
a baseball card [=featuring a baseball player] collection
… a super fan of the fantasy tabletop card game Magic: The Gathering, just bought a one-of-a-kind card from the game in a record sale, helping boost a growing trend that's made game cards almost as popular as sports cards.—
Emma Bowman
Emma Bowman7
a
computers
: a thin, hard board with small electronic devices (such as transistors) on it and sometimes a fan to prevent overheating
Note: Such cards are added to the inside of a computer to help the computer perform different tasks.
see also expansion card, graphics card, punch card, sound card, video card
b
8
9
informal + old-fashioned
: a usually silly and amusing person : wag
He's such a card!
10
British
: cardboard
carded; carding; cards
1
: to ask for identification (as in a bar)
We all got carded.
2
: score
a golfer carding a 75
3
: to place or fasten on or by means of a card
4
: to provide with a card
5
: to list or record on a card
carded; carding; cards
: to cleanse, disentangle, and collect together (fibers) by the use of cards preparatory to spinning
carder
noun
1
: an instrument or machine for carding fibers that consists usually of bent wire teeth set closely in rows in a thick piece of leather fastened to a back
2
: an implement for raising a nap on cloth
Examples of card in a Sentence
Noun (1)
the diners asked if there were any specials on the card for the evening
you're really a card, but save the jokes for after class
Recent Examples on the Web
Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
As a wild-card team, the Cubs also fell nine postseason wins short of winning the World Series.
—Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 28 Oct. 2025
The six-time PGA Tour winner carded rounds of 70-66-66-67 at the Bank of Utah Championship, tying for ninth place with Brandt Snedeker at 15-under par.
—Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for card
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
Airwallex’s focus, instead, is on companies that want a global presence and need to be able to issue employee cards, open bank accounts, and pay merchants across dozens of jurisdictions.
—Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
As a wild-card team, the Cubs also fell nine postseason wins short of winning the World Series.
—Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Verb
The food assistance benefits are provided on electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards that people can use to buy food at grocery stores and other retailers.
—Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 28 Oct. 2025
The six-time PGA Tour winner carded rounds of 70-66-66-67 at the Bank of Utah Championship, tying for ninth place with Brandt Snedeker at 15-under par.
—Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for card
Cite this Entry
“Card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/card. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
card
1 of 4 verb
: to clean and untangle fibers by combing with a card before spinning
carder
noun
card
2 of 4 noun
: an instrument usually having bent wire teeth for combing fibers (as wool or cotton)
card
3 of 4 noun1
2
plural
a
: a game played with cards
b
: card playing
3
informal
: an amusing person : wag
—used especially in the past
4
: a flat stiff usually small and rectangular piece of paper, thin cardboard, or plastic: as
a
: postcard
b
: such a card on which computer information is stored
c
d
5
: a sports program
6
: a removable circuit board (as in a personal computer)
card
4 of 4 verb1
: to provide with a card
2
: to ask for identification
Etymology
Noun
Middle English carde "instrument for combing fibers," from Latin cardus, carduus "instrument for combing fibers, thistle," from earlier Latin carduus "thistle"
Noun
Middle English carde "playing card," from early French carte (same meaning), probably from early Italian carta, literally, "leaf of paper," from Latin charta "piece of papyrus" — related to carton, cartoon, chart
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