to play one's best card
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To do that which one hopes is most likely to secure victory.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to play one's best card” mean?
To do that which one hopes is most likely to secure victory.
Is “to play one's best card” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.