hold the cards
"hold-the-cards" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hold the cards” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To be in a strong position, possessing significant advantages over someone else; to be in control of a situation involving multiple parties.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hold-the-cards · hold the cards · English
hold the cards · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hold the cards |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “hold the cards” in English
Rare enough to double-check
hold the cards is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To be in a strong position, possessing significant advantages over someone else; to be in control of a situation involving multiple parties.".
No misspelling variants are generated for hold the cards in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is hold the cards, spelled H-O-L-D- -T-H-E- -C-A-R-D-S.
Definition
- 1To be in a strong position, possessing significant advantages over someone else; to be in control of a situation involving multiple parties.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hold the cards appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"[B]ut if you make conditions I have no choice but to accept them, seeing that you hold the cards."
Once a ticket is paid for and the airline has your money, it holds the cards.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.