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
San Jose, with 81 points, is two points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference with a game in hand.
—
Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
The Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers are ahead of them in the chase for third in the Metropolitan Division, with those teams plus the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators also in the way for the East's second and final wild card spot.
—CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
But there are wild cards, including potential obstructions from Orion’s solar arrays or the body of the spacecraft and uncertainty about how well the vehicle can maintain a consistent orientation.
—Adam Bluestein, Scientific American, 5 Apr. 2026
On Sunday, the Senators beat Carolina, whom the B’s play on Tuesday, to jump into the second wild-card spot, five points behind the first wild card B’s with a game in hand.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wild card
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Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
The Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers are ahead of them in the chase for third in the Metropolitan Division, with those teams plus the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators also in the way for the East's second and final wild card spot.
—CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
But there are wild cards, including potential obstructions from Orion’s solar arrays or the body of the spacecraft and uncertainty about how well the vehicle can maintain a consistent orientation.
—Adam Bluestein, Scientific American, 5 Apr. 2026
On Sunday, the Senators beat Carolina, whom the B’s play on Tuesday, to jump into the second wild-card spot, five points behind the first wild card B’s with a game in hand.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
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 9 Apr. 2026.
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