put one's cards on the table

English

Alternative forms

• lay one's cards on the table, place one's cards on the table, put it all on the table, put it on the table

Pronunciation

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Verb

put one's cards on the table (third-person singular simple present puts one's cards on the table, present participle putting one's cards on the table, simple past and past participle put one's cards on the table)

1. (idiomatic) To reveal one's true intentions, beliefs, feelings, or other previously concealed facts about one's situation; to speak frankly.
   • 1899, Henry James, chapter 4, in The Awkward Age:

     "We needn't either of us," she continued, "be concerned for the other's reasons, though I'm perfectly ready, I assure you, to put my cards on the table."

   • 1915, John Buchan, chapter 4, in The Thirty-Nine Steps:

     I thought the time had come for me to put my cards on the table. I saw by this man's eye that he was the kind you can trust.

   • 1921, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 10, in Tangled Trails:

     "Let's put our cards on the table. We think you're the man the police are looking for—the one described in the papers."

   • 2003 May 27, Tony Karon, “Mideast: Can Bush Deliver?”, in Time:

     Although Sharon has never put all his cards on the table, he's given plenty of indicators that in his vision, a Palestinian state comprises the 40-50 percent of the West Bank currently under PA jurisdiction.

Synonyms

• show one's cards, show one's hand

Translations

to reveal one's true intentions

• Chinese: 摊牌
• Dutch: zijn kaarten op tafel leggen, het achterste van zijn tong laten zien
• Finnish: lyödä kortit pöytään
• French: abattre ses cartes (fr), abattre son jeu (fr)
• German: die Karten auf den Tisch legen
• Italian: mettere le carte in tavola
• Polish: wykładać karty na stół impf, wyłożyć karty na stół pf
• Russian: раскры́ть ка́рты pf (raskrýtʹ kárty)