Join free

card

English · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

card¹

  • /kɑːd/ England
  • [kʰɑːd] England
  • /kɑɹd/ US
  • [kʰɑɹd] US
  • /kaːd/ Australia
  • [kʰäːd] Australia
  • /kɐːd/ New Zealand
  • [kʰɐːd] New Zealand
  • /kard/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)d

Where it comes from

From Middle English carde (“playing card”), from Old French carte, from Latin charta, from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs, “paper, papyrus”). Doublet of carte and chart.

noun cards

  1. countable, uncountable A playing card. As each card is played in blackjack, it changes the possibilities for both player and dealer by diminishing the number and the variety of cards that may be dealt.
  2. countable, in plural, uncountable Any game using playing cards; a card game. He played cards with his friends.
  3. countable, uncountable A resource or argument, used to achieve a purpose. (See play the something card.) The government played the Orange card to get support for their Ireland policy.
  4. countable, uncountable Any flat, normally rectangular piece of stiff paper, plastic, etc.
  5. countable, uncountable A bank card.
  6. countable, uncountable Any electronic payment (rather than a cash payment using notes, bills or coins). Cashier: "Cash or card? Customer: "I'm paying on my phone, so card."
  7. uncountable Paper that is thicker and more durable than normal writing or printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than paperboard, used for postcards, playing cards, etc.; card stock. Do you have any card? I want to make a poster.
  8. countable, obsolete, uncountable A map or chart. As pilot well expert in perilous waue, / Vpon his card and compas firmes his eye […].
  9. countable, informal, uncountable An amusing or entertaining person, often slightly eccentric. "He's a cheery old card," muttered Harry to Jack / As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack. / . . . / But he did for them both by his plan of attack.
  10. countable, uncountable A list of scheduled events or of performers or contestants; chiefly used in professional wrestling. What's on the card for tonight?
  11. countable, uncountable A tabular presentation of the key statistics of an innings or match: batsmen’s scores and how they were dismissed, extras, total score and bowling figures.
  12. countable, uncountable A removable electronic device that may be inserted into a powered electronic device to provide additional capability. He needed to replace the card his computer used to connect to the internet.

    Similar: expansion card

  13. countable, uncountable Any of a set of pages or forms that the user can navigate between, and fill with data, in certain user interfaces. The button will "see" the cursor through a card domain graphic; you can then change button graphics on each card.
  14. countable, uncountable A greeting card. She gave her neighbors a card congratulating them on their new baby.
  15. countable, uncountable A business card. The realtor gave me her card so I could call if I had any questions about buying a house.
  16. countable, uncountable A title card or intertitle: a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action at various points, generally to convey character dialogue or descriptive narrative material related to the plot.
  17. countable, uncountable A test card.
  18. countable, uncountable In formal debating, a verbatim citation used as evidence for a point. You can make most theory answers without cards, but some cards do exist which specifically criticize kritiks on a theoretical basis.
  19. countable, dated, uncountable A published note, containing a brief statement, explanation, request, expression of thanks, etc. to put a card in the newspapers
  20. countable, dated, uncountable A printed programme.
  21. broadly, countable, dated, figuratively, uncountable An attraction or inducement. This will be a good card for the last day of the fair.
  22. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of compass card "The Lord possessed me [= Wisdom] in the beginning of his way, even before his works of old was I set up;" that law, which hath been the pattern to make, and is the card to guide the world by
  23. countable, uncountable A perforated pasteboard or sheet-metal plate for warp threads, making part of the Jacquard apparatus of a loom.
  24. countable, uncountable A graph formed from a given graph by deleting one vertex.
  25. countable, uncountable An indicator card.
  26. Philippines, abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of report card Where's your card? I want to see your grades.
  27. countable, uncountable A form signed by an employee to agree to representation by a union.

verb cards · carding · carded

  1. US, transitive To check IDs, especially against a minimum age requirement. They have to card anybody who looks 21 or younger.
  2. dated To play cards. For Corinius, who gave not a fig for music or dirges, but liked well of carding and dicing, had brought forth his dice box to play with the son of Corund.
  3. transitive To make (a stated score), as recorded on a scoring card. McIlroy carded a stellar nine-under-par 61 in the final round.

card²

  • /kɑːd/ England
  • [kʰɑːd] England
  • /kɑɹd/ US
  • [kʰɑɹd] US
  • /kaːd/ Australia
  • [kʰäːd] Australia
  • /kɐːd/ New Zealand
  • [kʰɐːd] New Zealand
  • /kard/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)d

Where it comes from

From Middle English carde, Old French carde, from Old Occitan carda, deverbal from cardar, from Late Latin *carito, from Latin carō (“to comb with a card”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).

noun cards

  1. dated, uncountable Material with embedded short wire bristles.
  2. countable, dated, uncountable A comb- or brush-like device or tool to raise the nap on a fabric.
  3. countable, uncountable A hand-held tool formed similarly to a hairbrush but with bristles of wire or other rigid material. It is used principally with raw cotton, wool, hair, or other natural fibers to prepare these materials for spinning into yarn or thread on a spinning wheel, with a whorl or other hand-held spindle. The card serves to untangle, clean, remove debris from, and lay the fibers straight.
  4. countable, dated, uncountable A machine for disentangling the fibres of wool prior to spinning.
  5. countable, uncountable A roll or sliver of fibre (as of wool) delivered from a carding machine.

card³

  • /kɑːd/ England
  • [kʰɑːd] England
  • /kɑɹd/ US
  • [kʰɑɹd] US
  • /kaːd/ Australia
  • [kʰäːd] Australia
  • /kɐːd/ New Zealand
  • [kʰɐːd] New Zealand
  • /kard/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)d

Where it comes from

From Middle English carden, from Old French carder, from carde (“cotton card”); see Etymology 2 for more.

verb cards · carding · carded

  1. To use a carding device to disentangle the fibres of wool prior to spinning. "Isn't that true, Bertha? " asked the smith. "Yes, every word of it, my lad," said Mother Bertha, who was sitting near the hearth carding.
  2. To scrape or tear someone’s flesh using a metal comb, as a form of torture.
  3. transitive To comb with a card; to cleanse or disentangle by carding. to card a horse
  4. figuratively, obsolete, transitive To clean or clear, as if by using a card. It is necessary that this book carded and purged of certain base things.
  5. obsolete, transitive To mix or mingle, as with an inferior or weaker article. that card your beer, if you see your guests begin to be drunk, half small and half strong

card⁴

  • /kɑːd/ England
  • [kʰɑːd] England
  • /kɑɹd/ US
  • [kʰɑɹd] US
  • /kaːd/ Australia
  • [kʰäːd] Australia
  • /kɐːd/ New Zealand
  • [kʰɐːd] New Zealand
  • /kard/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)d

noun cards

  1. abbreviation Abbreviation of cardinal (“songbird”).

card⁵

  • /kɑːd/ England
  • [kʰɑːd] England
  • /kɑɹd/ US
  • [kʰɑɹd] US
  • /kaːd/ Australia
  • [kʰäːd] Australia
  • /kɐːd/ New Zealand
  • [kʰɐːd] New Zealand
  • /kard/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)d

noun cards

  1. obsolete Obsolete form of chard

Card⁶

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)d

proper noun Cards

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a carder of wool.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: scorecard, batting order, identity card, visiting card, calling card, lineup, poster, placard, tease, bill, wag, notice, circuit board, board, wit, menu

Translations

Every language

noun resource or an argument, used to achieve a purpose

中文牌 pái
Françaiscarte
Русскийка́рта kárta, ко́зырь kózyrʹ

noun flat, normally rectangular piece of stiff paper, plastic etc.

Españolcarta, tarjeta
한국어카드 kadeu
日本語カード kādo, 札 fuda
中文卡 kǎ, 卡片 kǎpiàn
हिन्दीकार्ड kārḍ
Kiswahilikadi
Portuguêscartão, carta
Françaiscarte, fiche
DeutschKarte
Italianoscheda, carta, biglietto, card
Ελληνικάκάρτα kárta
Românăcard, carte
Русскийка́рточка kártočka, ка́рта kárta
Tiếng Việtthẻ
العربيةبِطَاقَة biṭāqa, كَارْت kārt, وَرَقَة waraqa, كَرْت kart
עבריתכַּרְטִיס kartís

noun (informal) amusing person

中文令人發笑的人 /令人发笑的人 lìngrén fāxiào de rén
Kiswahilikadi
Françaisallumé
Italianosagoma

noun list of scheduled events

Françaisagenda
Italianoagenda, programma
Русскийплан plan

noun (cricket) tabular presentation of the key statistics of an innings or match

Kiswahilikadi

noun greeting card

Françaiscarte

verb to check IDs

Kiswahilikadi
Françaiscontrôler

noun device to raise the nap on a fabric

Kiswahilikadi

noun hand-held tool for preparing materials for spinning

Italianopettine
Ελληνικάλανάρι lanári

noun machine for disentagling the fibres of wool prior to spinning

Kiswahilikadi
Françaiscarde

verb to use carding device

Kiswahilikadi
Françaiscarder
Deutschkämmen, krempeln, kardätschen
Italianocardare
Ελληνικάξαίνω xaíno
Românăcarda, scărmăna, dărăci

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"card." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/card. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

APA

card. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/card

Chicago

"card." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/card.

BibTeX
@misc{card_2026,
  title = {card},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/card},
  urldate = {2026-11-05}
}