| 释义 |
▪ I. card, n.1|kɑːd|
[a. F. carde teasel-head, wool-card (15th c. in Littré); app. ad. Sp. or It. carda thistle, teasel, card, a deriv. fem. form from com. Romanic (It., Sp., Pg.,) cardo masc., thistle:—med.L. cardus:—L. carduus thistle. Adopted in WG. as *karda, OHG. charta (wk. fem.), MHG. charte, MLG. karde, MDu. caerde, Du. kaarde, Ger. karde (from LG.). In Eng., the related verb (card2) occurs in the 14th c.
The Romanic sense, ‘teasel’, does not seem to occur in English, unless in the comb. card-gatherer = card-thistle-gatherer.]
1.
†a. An implement for raising a nap on cloth, consisting of teasel-heads set in a frame (obs.).
b. An iron instrument with teeth, or (later) a wire brush (see 2 a, b), used for the same purpose.[Some of the early quots. in 2 may belong here.] [1401See 3.] 1511–12Act 3 Hen. VIII, vi. § 1 The Walker and Fuller..shall not rowe nor werke any Clothe or Webbe with any Cardes. 1550Act 3–4 Edw. VI, ii, No Person shall..occupy any yron cards or pickards, in rowing of any set cloth. 1611Cotgr., Applaneur de draps, the Cloathworker; who with his thistle cards doth smooth and stroake down clothes. 1819Rees Cycl. s.v. Cloth, The instruments used in this operation [dressing cloth] are the wire cards, and teazels.
2. a. An instrument with iron teeth, used in pairs to part, comb out, and set in order the fibres of wool, hemp, etc., one of the cards being held in the hand, and the other fastened to a ‘stock’ or support. b. In later use a sort of wire brush for the same purpose, consisting of a strip of leather, vulcanized rubber, or similar material, into which short steel wires are inserted. These strips are fixed on a flat surface or on the cylinder of a carding-machine, and the wool is passed between two sets of them working with each other.
Also with defining prefix as hand-card, stock-card, tow-card, wool-card, etc.
1401[see 3]. 1418Bury Wills (1850) 3 Assigno Sibill Chekyneye seruienti mee..j par de wollecombes, j. kembyngstok; j. rot j. par de cardes. c1440Promp. Parv. 62 Carde, wommanys instrument, cardus. 1483Act 1 Rich. III, xii. §2 No Merchant Stranger..shall bring into this Realm..Cards for Wooll. 1548R. Crowley in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. i. 142 Honest matrons brought to the needy rock and cards. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1684) III. 747 It is no Womans matter, at Cards and Tow. 1614Markham Cheap Hvsb. (1623) 125 Take a Wool-Carde and..combe off all the scurfe and filth from the Swines backe. 1757Dyer Fleece iii. (R.) Behold the fleece beneath the spiky comb Drop its long locks, or from the mingling card, Spread in soft flakes. 1791E. Darwin Bot. Gard. ii. 58 With wiry teeth revolving cards release The tangled knots. 1851Art Jrnl. Illust. Catal. p. iv**/1 From the lap machine, the cotton passes to the carding engines, or cards.
3. attrib. and Comb., as card-board, card-room, card-stock, card-tack, card-wire; also card-can, the receptacle into which the carded cotton or wool falls; card-cloth, the leather or indiarubber backing of a card; hence card-clothing; card-end, the soft mass or rope or fibre delivered by the carding machine; card-gatherer, a gatherer of carding-thistles or teasels; card-maker, one who makes cards for combing wool, etc.; card-tenter, one who attends to a carding-machine; card-thistle, the teasel.
1688R. Holme Armory iii. ix. 383 The third is a *Card Board or Leaf..as yet without Leather or Teeth. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 403 In manufacturing card-boards, card-tacks, and finishing the cards.
1887Manch. Guard. 26 Feb. 12 Frame pulleys, *card cans.
1851Art Jrnl. Illust. Catal. p. v**/1 To make *card-cloth, hides of leather are cut up into strips.
1864R. Arnold Cotton Fam. 29 The *‘card end’..deposits itself in circular tin ‘pots’.
1725Lond. Gaz. No. 6400/6 James Hand, late of Lyneham in the County of Wilts, *Cardgatherer.
1401Pol. Poems (1859) II. 109 Carpenters ne sowters, *card-makers ne powchers. 1483Act 1 Rich. III, xii. §1 Founders, Cardmakers, Hurers, Wyremongers. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. ii. 20 Christopher Slie..by byrth a Pedler, by education a Cardmaker.
1885Manch. Exam. 24 July 5/1 An appeal has been issued by the *cardroom hands to the trade unionists of the country.
1562Richmond. Wills (1853) 156 *Cardstocks, iijs. Stockcards and hande cards, iijs.
1851Art Jrnl. Illust. Catal. p. v**/1 The carding depends more on the quality of the cards than upon any..skill in the..*card-tenters.
1578Lyte Dodoens iv. lx. 521 The *Cardthistel or Teasel is of two sortes, the tame and the wild.
1597Act 39 Eliz. xiii, Their trade..of Card-making and drawing of *Cardwyer.
▪ II. card, n.2|kɑːd|
Also 5–7 carde. See also cart n.2, chart n.1
[An altered representative of F. carte (14th c. in Littré in sense ‘playing-card’), ad. It. carta, in same sense (cf. quot. 1816 in 1), a specific use of It. carta paper, leaf of paper, leaflet:—L. charta (carta) papyrus leaf, paper, ad. Gr. χάρτης leaf of papyrus, leaf, thin plate; perh. of Egyptian origin. (It does not appear how the Eng. form came to be carde, instead of carte, which was established in Sc.)
The native Fr. repr. of L. carta was charte; after the introduction of carte from Ital. it was gradually extended to other senses, belonging to charte (as in charte blanche), or to med.L., It., or Sp. carta, as those of map, chart, card. The Eng. word has had a parallel history; the shape and stiffness of a playing-card being generally present to mind in the later extensions of the word.]
I.
1. a. One of a ‘pack’ or set of small oblong pieces of pasteboard, used in playing games of chance, or chance and skill combined: now called more specifically playing-cards. Unless otherwise indicated by the context, always referring in this sense to the particular species of cards which are marked with ‘pips’ or conventional figures of four different kinds or ‘suits’, called severally spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds. The ‘pack’ consists of 4 ‘suits’, each of 13 cards, 10 of which bear respectively 1, 2, 3, etc. (up to 10) pips all of one form, and the remaining 3 have habited figures called ‘King’, ‘Queen’ and ‘Knave’, whence they are called court (i.e. coat) or picture-cards. (The earliest sense in Fr. and English.)
a1400Chester Pl. ii. (1847) 83 Usinge cardes, dice, and cupes smalle. 1463Act 4 Edw. IV, iv. §1 That no Merchant..shall bring, send nor conuey..Chessemen, playing Cardes. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 29 Tell thy cardes, and then tell me what thou hast wonne. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing 111 The Kings and Coate cardes that we use nowe were in olde time the images of idols and false gods. 1589Hay any Work A iij b, Cards..though they bee without hornes..are parlous beasts. 1650Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (1886) I. 192 If a Presbiterian or Scotch court card were trumpe. 1732Pope Ep. Bathurst 142 Mighty Dukes pack Cards for half-a-crown. 1816Singer Hist. Cards 4 Cards are mentioned as being in common use among the Italians at the end of the thirteenth century. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf. T. (1883) 251 Turn up the faces of your picture-cards!
¶ One of the tablets in the game of ‘dominoes’.
1820Hoyle's Games Impr. 182 At the commencement of the game [of Domino], the cards (as they are called) are shuffled with their faces on the table.
b. a house (castle) of cards: built by children in their play; hence applied fig. to any insecure or unsubstantial scheme, system, etc.
1641Milton Reform. Wks. 1738 I. 18 Painted Battlements..of Prelatry, which want but one puff of the King's to blow them down like a past-board House built of Court-Cards. 1645Bp. Hall Remed. Discontent. 27 It is for Children to cry for the falling of their house of Cards. 1665–9Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xviii. (1675) 275 As children oftentimes do with their Cards, when having taken a great deal of pains to build fine Castles with them, they themselves afterwards ruine them with their Breath.
c. pl. A game or games played with cards; card-playing. Phrase, to play cards or at cards (Sc. at the cards); a game at or of cards; formerly, † on the cards.
1484Marg. Paston Lett. 881 III. 314 Pleyng at the tabyllys, and schesse and cards. 1502Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. York (1830) 84 Item to the Quenes grace..for hure disporte at cardes this Crismas. 1589Hay any Work A iij b, Our brother Westchester had as liue playe twentie nobles in a night, at Priemeero on the cards. 1661–2Pepys Diary 13 Jan., My aunt Wight and my wife to cards. 1699B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Knave-Noddy, a Game on the Cards. 1715De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iii. (1841) I. 63 Spend no more precious time at Cards. 1775Annals of Gaming 86 Every thing that can be done upon the cards by the most expert joueurs. 1787T. Jefferson Corr. (1830) 95 After supper, cards; and after cards, bed. 1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. xxv, While an occasional evening away..at an innocent and cheerful game at cards.
2. In many fig. phrases arising out of the game:
a. (in sing.) from technical terms of play. † card of ten: one that has ten pips, a ‘ten’; from its function in some game appears to come the phrase to face (brag) it out with a card of ten, i.e. to brag, put on a bold front. † cooling card: app. a term of some unknown game, applied fig. or punningly to anything that ‘cools’ a person's passion or enthusiasm. † facing card: ? = card of ten. leading card: a card which determines the ‘suit’ which must be played by those who follow the first player; fig. ‘an example or precedent’ (Dict. Cant. Crew 1690). loose card (see quot.).
1542Brinklow Compl. xix. (1874) 45 He shal haue fauor for his masters sake, or els bragg it owt with a carde of x. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 105 A certeine pamphlet which he termed a cooling carde for Philautus. 1580Ibid. 320 All louers (he onelye excepted) are cooled with a carde of teene [tenne]. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 84 There all is marr'd: there lies a cooling card. 1600Breton Pasquill's Mad-cap (1626) D ij b, Feede their humours with a Card of Tenne. 1606Sir G. Goosecappe ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 37 For temper sake they must needs have a cooling carde plaid upon them. 1621Jas. I Answ. Commons in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 51 God sent us a Cooling-card this year for that heat. a1624Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 33 If yee [goe away] for these facing-cardes of multitudes or chaire, vnhappy are yee. 1683Tryon Way to Health 474 Drunkenness being the leading Card to all Evils. 1690B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Cooling Card, cold comfort, no hope. 1706Hearne Collect. (1885) I. 164 A great Duke (as a Leading Card) has subscrib'd 30,000l. 1820Hoyle's Games Impr. 49 Loose card, is a card of no value, and consequently, the properest to throw away.
b. sure card: an expedient certain to attain its object; a person whose agency, or the use of whose name, will ensure success. Similarly with other adjs., as good, safe, likely, doubtful, etc., and in phrases, to play one's best card, to have played one's last card, etc.; to have a card (or cards) up one's sleeve: to have a plan, resources, etc., in reserve; to play the Orange card: to appeal to N. Irish Protestant sentiment for political advantage (see quot. 1886); hence in extended use (to play the..card), applied to other political gambits.
c1560Enterlude Called Thersytes (1848) 87 Nowe thys is a sure carde, nowe I maye well saye. 1579Lyly Euphues (1636) A iv, A cleere conscience is a sure card. 1589R. Harvey Plain Perc. 12 To get a sure card on their side, either calles for Iustice. 1605Tryall Chev. v. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 343 Here's Cavaliero Bowyer, Core and Nod..sound cards. 1649Selden Laws Eng. i. xv. (1739) 28 It cannot be denied that the Pope and Kings were good Cards in those days. Ibid. xlvii. 78 The Bishop..had formerly no other Cards to shew but that of the Canon. 1690B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, A sure Card, a trusty Tool, or Confiding Man. 1707J. Stevens Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 164 Is this the Service I am to expect from you, Paul! I must turn a new Card. 1711Brit. Apollo II. No. 102. 3/2 Don Gimcrack his last Card has plaid. 1742Fielding J. Andrews iv. iii, We have one sure card, which is to carry him before justice Frolick. 1755Young Centaur i. Wks. 1757 IV. 123 All their objections to Christianity seem to be no more, nor less, than playing the best card they have. 1763F. Brooke Lady J. Mandeville in Barbauld Brit. Novelists (1820) XXVII. 23 Poor fellow! I pity him; but marriage is his only card. 1811Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. VIII. 454 The Prince d' Aremberg..is too great a Card to give up for the Marquis de Santa Cruz. 1812J. Bellingham in Examiner 25 May 336/1, I have been called upon to play an anxious card in life. 1826Scott Woodst. III. xiv. 358 No card seemed to turn up favourable to the royal cause. 1836Dickens Let. ? 22 Aug. (1965) I. 167 Harley wrote, when he had read the whole of the opera, saying ‘It's a sure card—nothing wrong there’. 1872J. P. Kennedy Quodlibet (ed. 3) i. 40 Consider me a sure card in that line. 1898Tit-Bits 23 July 3289/3, I took the precaution of having what, I believe, you sporting men call a card up my sleeve. 1907E. Phillips Oppenheim Secret xxxvii. 231 If Guest has yet another card up his sleeve, he has kept it secret from me. 1933‘G. Orwell’ Down & Out v. 38, I have got a few cards up my sleeve. There are people who owe me money, for instance. 1953R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 206 It was only years later, in rooms with Jocelyn, that she guessed or suspected the possibility of another motive—the card up her sleeve she had always shut her eyes to guessing that she held. 1886R. Churchill Let. 16 Feb. in R. R. James Ld. Randolph Churchill (1959) viii. 233, I decided some time ago that if the G.O.M. went for Home Rule, the Orange card would be the one to play. 1955N.Y. Times 2 May 12/5 The Russians have not played this captive-soldier card yet, but they can play it not only in their negotiations with the Germans but in the conversations that will be starting with the Japanese in London next month. 1973Times 31 May 10 British policy toward Ireland has been paralysed by the fear that the Protestants of Ulster will play the Orange Card and fight to preserve their British tie. 1982Christian Science Monitor 3 Nov. 1/2 Western newspapers have been full of speculation as to whether China was playing a ‘Soviet card’ against the United States.
c. mod. slang. [app. suggested by such expressions as sure card, etc.; see prec.], applied to a person, with adj. (as knowing, old, queer, etc.) indicating some eccentricity or peculiarity. Also without adjective: a ‘character’, an ‘original’; a clever, audacious, etc., person.
1836Dickens Sk. Boz 264 (Hoppe) Mr. Thomas Potter whose great aim it was to be considered as a ‘knowing card’. 1852― Bleak Ho. xx. 199 But such an old card as this. 1853Ibid. lxii. 596 You know what a card Krook was for buying all manner of old pieces of furniter. 1873Black Pr. Thule x. 151 You are the most romantic card I know. 1905A. Bennett Tales of Five Towns i. 9 It would be..a topic for years, the crown of his reputation as a card. 1911― (title) The Card—a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns. 1929W. Deeping Roper's Row xxi, ‘What the Midlanders call ‘a card’.’ ‘What's that?’ ‘An original, a person.’ 1942‘W. B. Johnson’ Widening Stain (1943) iii. 34 That old Witch-Hammer was really quite a card.
d. (in pl.) from the comparison of any enterprise to a game of cards, as to play one's cards well, badly, etc. Also to throw or fling up one's cards: to abandon a project. to show one's cards: to reveal one's plans, the extent of one's resources. † to have or go in with good cards: to have good grounds for expecting success. † to cast or count one's cards: to reckon up one's chances, take stock of one's position. † cards and cards (see quot. 1584). See also cut, deal, shuffle vbs.; trump. Also to lay, put (or play with) (all) one's cards on the table: ‘to show one's cards’, to reveal one's resources.
1577Holinshed Chron. IV. 207 Choosing rather to die in battell (if hap had so cut their cards). 1581Campion in Confer. ii. (1584) U iv, I would I might be suffered to shewe my cardes. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xiv. viii. 311 Calculating and casting his cards in this maner. 1584B. R. Herodotus 1 b, It was cardes and cardes betwene them, the one beyng full meete and quit with the other. c1590Marlowe Massac. Paris i. ii, Since thou hast all the cards within thy hands..deal thyself a King. 15971st Pt. Ret. fr. Parnass. iv. i. 1373 Let us caste our cards before wee goe. 1621Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 119 Amphialus..trusting to his Cards. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, They went in upon farre better Cardes to ouerthrow King Henry, then King Henry had to ouerthrow King Richard. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. ii. §155. 114 There being nothing unwritten, which can goe in upon halfe so faire cards. 1645Quarles Sol. Recant. iii. 86 And let thy wisdome play Bad Cards with best advantage. 1664Floddan F. iv. 32 Our Cards we had both need to count and cast. 1688W. Darrel Ignatius no Phanat. 18 If I cannot oppose more weighty Reasons to the contrary, I'll fling up my Cards. 1710Subst. of Late Conf. 3 The Cards run so much against him. 1753[see play v. 22 b]. 1801M. Edgeworth Belinda I. i. 24 A man of gallantry..who was known to play his cards well, and to have good luck whenever hearts were trumps. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton I. xi. 198 Thou'st played thy cards badly... At one time he were desperate fond o' thee. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. I. iii. 176 Come, cards on table; was it true or false? 1871W. S. Gilbert Palace of Truth ii. p. 29 One who shows her cards so candidly. 1907E. Phillips Oppenheim Secret viii. 55, I began to think that I had been rash to lay my cards upon the table. 1914Shaw Fanny's First Play iii, Tramps are often shameless; but theyre never sincere. Swells—if I may use that convenient name for the upper classes—play much more with their cards on the table. 1923J. M. Murry Pencillings 195 He seems to put his cards on the table and to be saying in the friendliest way: ‘That's my opinion. What's yours?’ 1925W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xvi. 155 There is no reason why we should put all our cards on the table. 1930W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale vii. 85 If you play your cards right you ought to marry well. 1956A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Att. i. iii. 96 Mrs. Middleton played her last card, ‘I know, children,’ she said, ‘the Vicar is hungry, that is what it is.’
e. on the cards, † out of the cards: within (or outside) the range of probability.
On the cards appears to mean with Dickens ‘liable to turn up’, as any thing in the game may when the cards are turned up. But it is very possible that the phrase originated with cartomancy, when the cards were consulted as to the issues of enterprises. Other sources have also been conjectured.
1813Sir R. Wilson Diary II. 40 It is not out of the cards that we might do more. 1849Dickens Dav. Copp. xi, ‘If in short, if anything turns up.’ By way of going in for anything that might be on the cards, I call to mind that Mr. Micawber..composed a petition to the House of Commons. 1852― Bleak Ho. iv, It don't come out altogether so plain as to please me, but it's on the cards. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1873) V. 303 Lest a scalade of Prag should be on the cards. 1868Mill Engl. & Irel., It was on the cards whether Ireland should not belong to France. Mod. It was quite on the cards that he was to be raised to the Upper House.
† II. 3. a. A map or plan; = chart n.1 Obs.
1527R. Thorne in Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) B iv b, A little Mappe or Carde of the worlde. Ibid. C ij a, The first lande from the sayd beginning of the carde towarde the Orient is certaine Ilandes of the Canaries. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 45 Of the vniuersall carde & newe worlde. 1570J. Campion in Arb. Garner I. 53 In our way to Scio, as you may plainly see by the Card. 1577Eden & Willes Hist. Trav. 231 If Ortelius generall Carde of the world be true. 1591Burghley Let. in Unton Corr. 88 The best particular cardes of Normandie and Picardie. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 114. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxiii. §46 (1873) 246 Not only that general map of the world.. but many other more particular cards. 1650Fuller Pisgah v. xx. 183 Such an elbow appears not in the late cardes of this country.
†b. card of the sea, mariner's card or sea card; = chart n.1 1 b. Obs.
1534Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. R vij, What profitte is it to the mariner to know the carde of the see. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. ii. x. (Arb.) 134 Manye of those mappes which are commonly cauled the shipmans cardes or cardes of the sea. 1594Blundevil Exerc. vii. xxvii. (ed. 7) 690 The Mariners Card..is none other thing but a description..of the places that be in the Sea or in the land next adioyning to the Sea, as Points, Capes, Bayes. 1613Purchas Pilgr. viii. ii. 729 Pirats..robbing him..forced him to sustaine himselfe with making of Sea-Cardes. 1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, cccx, Harry..by his Card knew how farr on His Voyage he might be. 1678Phillips, Card, a Sea-Map..Vulgarly so called for Chart. 1721–1800in Bailey. [Not in Johnson.]
4. a. The circular piece of stiff paper on which the 32 points are marked in the mariner's compass.
16th c. quotations are doubtful since they may belong rather to 3 b ‘chart’. Possibly the compass-card was at first so called rather because it was regarded as a sort of ‘chart’ than on account of its material.
[1555Eden Decades W. Ind. ii. vii. (Arb.) 127 Knowleage of the sea carde & compasse.] 1605Shakes. Macb. i. iii. 17 All the Quarters that they know I' th' Ship-mans Card. 1656J. Harrington Oceana (1700) 140 What Seaman casts away his Card, beause it has four and twenty Points of the Compass? 1732Pope Ess. Man ii. 98 On Life's vast ocean diversely we sail, Reason the card, but Passion is the gale. 1751Chambers Cycl. s.v. Compass, The flower de lis, wherewith all nations still distinguish the north point of the card. 1770Phil. Trans. LX. 133 At noon it [the Scilly light-house] bore directly north by true card. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk.
b. fig.
1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. (1617) 5 That Law..is the Card to guide the World by. 1636Featly Clavis Myst. xxix. 382 Let us..carefully steere by the Card of God's word. a1703Burkitt On N.T. 2 Peter ii. Pref., Our apostle..recommended the holy scriptures to us..as our card and compass. 1786Burns To Mount. Daisy vii. 39 Unskilful he to note the card Of prudent lore.
c. to speak by the card: to express oneself with care and nicety; to be exact to a point.
1602Shakes. Ham. v. i. 149 Wee must speake by the Carde, or equiuocation will vndoe vs. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 315, I speak by the card in order to avoid entanglement of words.
III. 5. a. gen. A flat piece of stiff paper or thin pasteboard, usually rectangular; used as a surface to write or draw upon, or for other purposes.
1610G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. i. xv, There hung the..Card Where good and bad and life and death were painted. 1622Peacham Compl. Gentl. xiii. (1634) 129 My booke..will teach you the use of colours for Limning..the manner of preparing your card. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. iii. (1724) VI. 415 If we are driven to the expedient of a sealed card [i.e. as a substitute for coin]. 1828Southey Ep. A. Cunningham, Thou..didst wilfully Publish upon a card, as Robert Southey's, A face..as like Tom Fool's. Mod. Cards bearing the names of the prize-winners are affixed to the successful exhibits.
b. transf. Anything having the form of a card. U.S.
1823J. F. Cooper Pioneers ix, With ‘cards of ginger⁓bread’. 1853J. G. Baldwin Flush Times Alabama 103 He distributed..a plug of tobacco there, or a card of town gingerbread to the little snow-balls. 1884J. Phin Dict. Apiculture 20 Card, a frame filled with honeycomb. A sheet of honeycomb.
6. In many specific applications (in most of which small size, not greatly exceeding that of a playing card, is implied):
a. A small sheet on which a letter or message may be written; hence formerly a short letter, note, or message, whether literally on a card or otherwise. Around 1870 the use of actual cards for this purpose was revived, whence post-card (in U.S. postal card). So message-card, correspondence-card.
1596P. Colse Penelope (1880) 173 With scoffing cardes she doth vs load. 1781Cowper Let. to Newton 4 Oct., Send Dr. Johnson..my poems, accompanied with a handsome card. 1784― Task ii. 384 Never at his books Or with his pen, save when he scrawls a card. 1797Encycl. Brit. II. 432/2 These..are to be noted down..upon a large message-card. 1873Morley Rousseau II. 289 Hume was the friend of Walpole, and had given Rousseau a card of introduction to him. Mod. Send me a card to let me know of your arrival. I'll drop you a card when I hear from him.
b. conveying an invitation to a party, a ball, etc.; or serving as a ticket of admission to an exhibition or entertainment, as evidence of membership in a society; or the like.
1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 80, I can't resist the curiosity I have to know if you received a card on this occasion? 1824Byron Juan xvi. lxix, All country gentlemen..May drop in without cards. 1876World V. No. 114. 17 Astonished by an invitation to dinner, which she declines, and then by cards for parties, which she refuses. Mod. Advt. House to be sold..Cards to view may be obtained of the auctioneer.
c. bearing a person's written or printed name, or name and address. More fully with prefixed n. indicating the special purpose, as (a) visiting card: used chiefly for presentation on making a call, or to be left in token that a call has been made. Phrase, to leave a card on (a person). (b) wedding cards: bearing the names of the bride and bridegroom, and sent as a notification of the wedding. (c) business card: see business 24.
1795S. Rogers Words for Mrs. Siddons 51 A thousand cards a day at doors to leave. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxviii. (L.) Our first cards were to Carabas House. ― Van. Fair III. 178 (Hoppe) The Scape tradesmen..left their cards, and were eager to supply the new household. 1855O. W. Holmes Poems 160 Brattle Street and Temple Place Were interchanging cards! 1856Emerson Eng. Traits vi. Manners Wks. (Bohn) II. 47 If he [an Englishman] give you his private address on a card, it is like an avowal of friendship. Mod. He called, and sent up his card.
d. with defining ns. prefixed, as birthday card, Christmas card, Easter card, New Year cards, printed with ornamental designs, etc. to be sent (on the occasions indicated) as an expression of compliments or good wishes; collecting cards, on which small donations received by collection for charitable institutions are recorded; menu cards, etc.
a1869E. Garrett Occup. Retired Life vii. 133 A Christmas card gives as much delight as a Christmas-box.
e. A programme, official or not, of the ‘events’ at races, regattas, and the like. spec. in Cricket, a score-card.
1849Punch XVII. 12/1 Paid..2d. for a Card of the Innings. a1888Mod. Here's the c'rect card, sir! 1903A. D. Taylor Annals of Lord's 111 The printing tent was introduced at Lord's, on June 26th, 1848,..and the public, for the first time, could secure a ‘correct card’ of the game.
f. A card held by a delegate at a trade union meeting or congress and representing a certain number of the members of his union. Cf. card vote.
190235th Ann. Rep. Trades Union Congress 69 A vote by card was then demanded, and resulted in the Committee being supported by 796,000 to 375,000. Ibid. 85 The method of voting shall be by card, to be issued to the delegates of trade societies according to their membership, and paid for..on the principle of one card for every 1,000 members or fractional part thereof represented.
g. pl. An employee's documents (e.g. national-insurance card, etc.) held by an employer and returned when employment ceases; hence in various phrases alluding to dismissal or resignation from employment. colloq.
1929H. Green Living vii. 103 Arthur Bridges was sending for his cards after 54 years' work. 1958M. Dickens Man Overboard xi. 176 You're planning to ask for your cards this morning, I suppose. 1958‘A. Gilbert’ Death against Clock 51 Wouldn't surprise me to know he'd helped himself from the till, and that's why they gave him his cards.
h. A rectangular piece of stiffened plastic issued by banks and other institutions, with information embossed or otherwise represented, used chiefly in obtaining credit, guaranteeing cheques, or for use with cash-dispensing and other devices. Principally as the second element: Access card, cash card, credit card, etc., see under first word.
1967Times Rev. Industry Mar. 66/3 The Midland..took the decision to honour the National Provincial and Lloyds cards at its own branches. 1982Daily Tel. 28 Sept. 8/1 British Telecom is increasing the number of public call boxes using plastic cards instead of coins. 1984S. Bellow Him with his Foot in his Mouth 20 Walish, after computing interest and service charges to the fourth decimal, cut up Reg's cards.
7. transf. U.S. A published note, containing a short statement, request, explanation, or the like. (Webster.)
1769Boston News-Letter 2 Feb. (Th.), A Card from the London and British Merchants to the American Merchants. 1788Gen. Even. Post (London) 1–3 Jan. 2/3 A Card. Dr. Norris..desires to inform the public [etc.]. 1887Chr. Leader 21 July 462 When news reached the saloon keepers that a prohibitory law had been passed, they published the following card: ‘To all prohibitionists,’ etc. 1931G. T. Clark Leland Stanford viii. 305 That there might be no misunderstanding as to where they stood they published the following card over the signature of James Anthony and Company. 1945Bristol (New Hampshire) Enterprise 15 Feb. 4/1 (Advt.), Births, marriage and death notices inserted free. Card of thanks, $1.00.
8. A large rectangular piece of pasteboard containing an advertisement, or the like, for placing in a window, hanging on a wall, etc. So window-card, show-card, etc.
9. Comm. (more fully pattern-card, sample-card): Sometimes simply a sheet of pasteboard, sometimes an elaborate contrivance resembling a portfolio, on which samples of manufactured articles are fastened for exhibition to customers.
10. Mech. One of the perforated pasteboards or sheet metal plates in the Jacquard attachments to looms for weaving figured fabrics.
1831G. Porter Silk Manuf. 252 Figure weaving..These fixed cards thus become substitutes for the intermediate blank spaces on the revolving card slips. 1859Encycl. Brit. XIII. 143 Since 1841..scarcely a machine has been worked without the ornaments being applied by means of cards.
11. slang or colloq. ‘the card’: = ‘the correct thing’, the ticket, q.v.
1851Mayhew Lond. Lab. II. 47 (Hoppe) I've got 10s. often for a great coat, and higher and lower..but 10s. is about the card for a good thing.
IV. attrib. and Comb.
12. attrib. with prefixed numeral in names of games (sense 1), as three-card monte, trick, five-card, eight-card cribbage: see the ns.
13. General combs., as (sense 1 a) card-dealer, card-game, card-play, card-sense; (sense 1 b) card-castle, card-house; (sense 2) card assembly, card box, card-cheat, card-cheating, card-maker, card-making, card-meeting, card-party, card-player, card-playing, card-room, card-table; card-devoted adj.; (sense 6 c) card-basket, card-exchanging adj., card-leaving, card-plate, card-tray.
1751Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) III. lxxxiii. 285 Our hero forthwith repaired to a *card-assembly.
1841A. Bache Fire-Screen viii, To this treasury does the tasteful disposer of drawing-room decorations consign her antiquated *card-baskets. 1872C. M. Yonge P's & Q's vi. 58 She began to search in the card basket.
1829Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 76 A mere intellectual *card-castle.
1859Sala Tw. round Clock 153 Skittle sharps, *card-cheats, ‘duffers’ and ring droppers.
1608Dekker Belman Lond. Wks. 1884–5 III. 131 This *card-cheating..is called Batt fowling.
1902O. Wister Virginian iii. 31 Into my thoughts broke the voice of that *card-dealer.
1784Cowper Task iv. 229 Sit pupils in the school Of *card-devoted time.
1899Westm. Gaz. 26 May 10/1 The Hague, in the opening days of the Peace Conference, was simply a mass of *card-exchanging foreigners.
1864Once a Week 19 Mar. 364/1 Other principal *card-games of the period were Iodam, noddy, bankerout..and post-and-pair.
1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 14 Knocking down the rest of the line like a nest of *card-houses.
1853E. Ruskin Let. 30 Nov. in M. Lutyens Millais & Ruskins (1967) 113 Continual letter-writing and note-sending and *card-leaving on every body in and around Edinburgh. 1900Manners & Rules of Good Society iii. 16 The etiquette of card-leaving is a privilege which society places in the hands of ladies.
1564J. Rastell Confut. Jewell's Serm. 2 *Karde-makers, tapsters, gailers. 1694Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 381 Mr. Whitfeild, the late kings cardmaker. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §2 This idle amusement [gaming] employs the card-maker.
1751Chambers Cycl. s.v. Cards, The great letters, in our old manuscripts..are apparently done by the illuminers after this method of *card-making.
1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 196 He belonged..to every *card-meeting of decent gentility.
1777Johnson in Boswell II. 574, I advised Mrs. Thrale who has no *card-parties at her house, to give sweetmeats, and such good things, in an evening. 1840Marryat Poor Jack li, She..was considered quite a catch at card-parties.
1852Mrs. E. Twisleton Let. 1 July (1928) i. 9 Mr. Twisleton having gone out to order a *cardplate for me.
1919A. E. M. Foster Auction Bridge Table Talk v. 37 Any form of gambling—*card play, racing, or whatever else it may be. 1931Essays & Studies XVI. 182 The terms of card-play.
1589Hay any Work A iij b, What, a bishop such a *cardplaier? 1816Singer Hist. Cards 38 Ferdinand V...promulgated more severe laws and penalties against Card-players.
1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 142 What say you to *carde playing? 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 255 Most of the time which he could save..was spent in racing, cardplaying, and cock⁓fighting.
1760A. Murphy Way to keep Him iii. 67 I'll go this Moment into the *Card-Room, and watch whom she whispers with. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. I. 211 Who is that standing near the card-room door?
1930W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale ix. 108, I did not play well, but Mrs. Driffield had a natural *card sense.
1713Addison Guardian No. 120 (Jod.) There is nothing that wears out a fine face like the vigils of the *cardtable. 1785Cowper Let. to Newton 19 Mar., The card-table..is covered with green baize.
14. Special combs.: card-carrying a., having a membership card of a specified organization, esp. of the Communist Party; so card-carrier; card-case, a case for carrying visiting cards; card-catalogue, a catalogue (of a library, etc.) in which each item is entered on a separate card; † card-conny-catching, † card-gospeller, nonce-wds. (see quots.); card-edge gilder, a man who, or machine which, gilds the edges of cards; card-holder, one who holds the cards for a great personage while he is playing; also fig.; one who possesses a membership-card of a certain organization; a member; card-index (orig. U.S.), an index in which each item is entered on a separate card; a card-catalogue; also transf. and fig.; hence card-index v. trans. and intr., to make a card-index (of); also fig.; so card-indexed ppl. adj., card-indexing vbl. n.; † card-man (see 3), a maker of maps or charts; † card-match, a piece of card dipped in melted sulphur; also fig.; card-money, money allowed a person to enable him to play cards; card-paper = cardboard; cardphone, a public telephone operated by means of a prepaid plastic card holding details of outstanding credits, instead of by coins; card-press, a small press for printing cards; card-rack, a rack for holding business or visiting cards; card-sharp (orig. U.S.), a card-sharper; card-sharper, one who makes a trade of cheating at cards; card-sharping, the practices of a card-sharper; card vote, in trade union meetings, etc., a method of voting by which the vote of each delegate counts for the number of his constituents (cf. sense 6 f above); † card-work. Also cardboard.
1966‘W. Haggard’ Power House iii. 27 His wife was a communist... She wasn't a *card-carrier.
1948B. Andrews Washington Witch Hunt ii. 96 The most dangerous Communists in the nation today are not the open, avowed, *card-carrying party members. 1953Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Aug. 2/3 ‘Millions of workers who are just card-carrying members’ and who take no interest in union affairs.
1835Marryat Olla Podr. viii, Again drawing out his *card-case. 1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne I. xiv. 235 Margaret took out her card-case.
1878H. Stevens (of Vermont) (title) Photo-Bibliography, or a word on printed *Card Catalogues of old rare beautiful and costly books..Six sample Cards of the proposed Titles.
1592Greene Def. Conny-catch. Wks. 1881–3 XI. 76 Let mee vse it for an excuse of our *Card Conny-catching: for when wee meet a country Farmer with a full purse, a miserable miser..we hold it a deuotion to make him a Conny, in that he is a Caterpillar to others.
1902Westm. Gaz. 1 Jan. 1/7 Book *Card-edge Gilders. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §538 Card edge gilder;..places cards in press after they are trimmed..; brushes them over with size, lays on gold leaf and allows it to dry; burnishes gold leaf by hand with agate or bloodstone burnishing tool.
1550Latimer Serm. Stamford I. 269 Among so great a number of gospellers, some are *card-gospellers, some are dice-gospellers, some pot-gospellers.
a1659Osborn Essex's Death Wks. (1673) 677 With what Circumspection Princes ought to play their Game, since Counsellors their *Card-holders, are not seldome Cheaters. 1934Webster, Cardholder, a person who has a card issued by a library entitling him to borrow books. 1955Times 17 June 7/5 A fellow traveller is not a card-holder. 1970Daily Tel. 25 Apr. 17/3 Individual card holders may find their credit ceiling upgraded and find Barclaycard less pressing in asking them to pay their bills in future.
1850Rep. Comm. Patents 1849 (U.S.) 344, I also claim the *card index formed with the shoulder b, to suspend the card in the slit of the plate or false bottom a. 1900Engineering Mag. XIV. 767 Those who desire to clip the items for card-index purposes. 1908Modern Business Dec. 544/2 Card indexing has become nowadays an essential requirement of modern business. 1911H. S. Harrison Queed vi. 67 She had touched the spring of the automatic card-index system, known as his memory. 1911Cosmopolitan June 130/1 All the vast store of information that he had treasured up in that marvelous brain of his, ready to be called on almost as if his mind were card-indexed. 1917Twyford Purchasing & Storing 16 Card indexing them [sc. specifications]..will make them available for rapid reference. 1920Rose Macaulay Potterism i. iv, Jane, sitting in her father's outer office, card-indexing, opening and entering letters. 1924Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 188 He pulled out a drawer of card-indexed photographs. 1927Daily Express 31 Oct. 13 The film is an interesting example of the ‘card-index’ method of film construction. 1929Sunday Dispatch 13 Jan. 5 The little books have made it possible to ‘card-index’ my mind and systematise my memory.
1625Lisle Du Bartas 92 The poet followeth Mercator, Ortelius and the common opinion of the *Cardmen of our times.
1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 102 Crying Chimney Sweep, Ay, or *Card-Matches and Save-alls. 1730Fielding Tom Thumb ii. vi, Where are those eyes, those card-matches of love.
1760in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 1628 Two of the lady's servants..agreed..to dispose of the *card money. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xvii. 114 For..ornaments of her person, pocket-money, card-money, charities, or any other objects.
1777Mudge in Phil. Trans. LXVII. 336 There must..be two other circular pieces of *card-paper cut out. 1830Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. (1863) 260 A house of card-paper would be the solider refuge.
1978Daily Tel. 14 Aug. 11/3 A caller would insert the card into a slot and dial in the normal way. The ‘*cardphone’ would deduct the cost of the call from the value of the card. 1981Times 28 July 2/4 Public telephones..which use prepaid plastic cards, are now in operation in London... The telephones, called Cardphones, take cards of the same shape and size as a credit card. 1984New Scientist 26 Jan. 27 Cardphones are proving so popular..that British Telecom..is planning to introduce three thousand more this year.
1790Pennsylvania Packet 11 Dec. 3/2 *Card racks or containers. 1803Lett. Miss Riversdale III. 198 As to sending one's name to grace her card rack, I don't think there's much in that. 1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 342 Painted shells and roses..on card-racks and hand-screens.
1884Harte On Frontier 273 To make a *card sharp out of him. 1963Punch 3 July 33/3 George Manolesco was a Rumanian thief and cardsharp.
1859Sala Tw. round Clock 336 German swindlers and *card-sharpers. 1887Edna Lyall Donovan xvi. 183 Beware of pickpockets and cardsharpers dressed as gentlemen.
1870Daily News 20 Apr., Two men..were charged with..*card-sharping in a railway carriage.
190235th Ann. Rep. Trades Union Congress 74 Should a *card vote be demanded, it would of course be taken. 1924H. G. Wells in Westm. Gaz. 8 Mar., Should its [sc. the League of Nations'] members have a card vote after the pattern of a British Trade Union Congress? 1966Listener 22 Sept. 411/2 Representation, two different forms of voting procedure—a show of hands and the card vote—and accountability are all clearly laid down.
1653H. Cogan Pinto's Trav. xxxix. (1663) 157, 12 Ballisters of the wood of Camphire..wreathed about with silver in the fashion of *Card-work.
Senses 12–14 in Dict. become 13–15. Add: [III.] 12. Electronics. = *board n. 2 h. expansion card: see expansion n. 8.
1964Electronics 31 Jan. 25/1 A plug-in card containing up to 250 individually replaceable microcircuits is shown in one of the photographs. 1974IEEE Spectrum June 94/2 Among the cards available for these microprocessor systems are: the 8111, a central processing unit with clock, reset, data, address, memory, and input–output control; the 8112, a memory card which [etc.]. 1983Your Computer (Austral.) Aug. 14/2 Standard features of the Fox-640 include a Forth programming system card, joystick port, [etc.] 1986What Micro? Nov. 37/3 At the moment there are only two cards available to fit these expansion slots; an RS232 interface board..and a mouse interface/clock board are available for {pstlg}69 each. 1989New Scientist 21 Jan. 39/2 VideoFax comes as a pair of circuit boards, or ‘cards’, which plug into the back of the personal computer.
▸ card counter n. (a) a marker used to keep a tally in whist (now rare); (b) (chiefly in pontoon (blackjack)) a person who keeps a mental tally of the cards played in a game in order to gain an (unfair) advantage.
1772J. Gerard Cat. of Genuine & Curious Coll. 9 Fifty-three curious engrav'd *card counters. 1835Lady's Bk. Mar. 118/1 Poor Mrs. P——! I wonder who will get her card counters. 1958D. B. Hudson Sir Joshua Reynolds v. 77 He had his own card-counters, specially designed in mother-of-pearl and packed in a lacquer box. 1966Nevada State Jrnl. 2 Aug. 13/3 The rulings give the house an edge over card-counters. 2004E. Conlon Blue Blood v. 154 The man on the catwalks over the casino floor, scanning the tables for the sharps and card-counters, looking out for luck that's too good to be true.
▸ card counting n. (chiefly in pontoon (blackjack)) the action or practice of keeping a mental tally of the cards played in a game in order to gain an (unfair) advantage.
1932News (Frederick, Maryland) 7 Oct. 6/4 North now did some *card counting, and by the rule of 11 he determined that Burnstine in the East had no heart which could take the seven, therefore North played the deuce of hearts. 1976N.Y. Times Mag. 27 June 9/2 [They] have become so skilled in blackjack that they win large sums of money. All utilize various systems of ‘card counting’. 2003Esquire July 81/4 He was eventually banned from every casino in Vegas for card counting.
▪ III. † card, n.3 Obs.
See also chard.
[a. F. carde, in same sense; cf. Sp. cardo, lit. ‘thistle’, used as a name of the artichoke, from its thistle-like flower.]
a. The tender central leaf-stalk of the Artichoke, Cynara Scolymus, blanched for table use.
b. The prepared midrib of a variety of white beet.
1658Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 205 If you would have them abound in fair cards, you must keep them well hous'd. 1704Collect. Voy. & Trav. III. 34/1 They pare it like a Lettice, or Artichoke Card. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict., Cardes: They are of two Sorts, viz. Cardes of Beet and Cardes of Artichoke; those of the Beet are..the Stalks or Ribs.
▪ IV. † card, n.4 Obs.
[Cf. char, also ‘Cardui, Sc., a kind of trout found in Lochleven, probably the char’ (Jam.).]
Some sort of fish.
c1640J. Smyth Hundr. Berkeley (1885) 319 A Cod, a Card.
▪ V. card, v.1|kɑːd|
Also 4 karde, 5 cardyn.
[f. card n.1, or, perhaps rather a. F. carder; in our quots. the vb. appears earlier than the n.]
1. trans. To prepare wool, tow, etc., for spinning, by combing out impurities and parting and straightening the fibres with a card. Also with out, and absol. Also, † To dress cloth with teasels or cards (obs.); see card n.1 2. † To remove (impurities) from flax, etc. with cards (obs.).
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 80 Boþe to karde and to kembe. c1440Promp. Parv. 62 Cardyn wolle, carpo. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (1857) 294 To spynnyn and cardyn she hadde no shame. 1553Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 21 The men spinne and carde and make clothe. 1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 39 Some use agayne to carde of the knoppes [of flax] with an iron Combe. 1661Hickeringill Jamaica 31 The Natives, card out this Rind into a kind of course Tow. a1687Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 19 Cloth must be cheaper made, when one Cards, another Spins, another Weaves. 1757Dyer Fleece iii. (R.) These card the short, those comb the longer flake. 1804Earl of Lauderdale Publ. Wealth (1819) App. 409 Machines which at once clean, card, and reduce the cotton into a state adapted for spinning.
fig.1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 18 Wisdome and witte now is nouȝt worth a carse, But if it be carded with coueytise as clotheres kemben here wolle. 1786Burns Wks. II. 45, I inclose you two poems I have carded and spun since I past Glenbuck.
b. transf. Said of bees and spiders. Also, to card up (dial.): see quot.
1608Topsell Serpents 786 As for separating, dividing, picking, carding, or suting their stuffe, they [a kind of spiders] are very bunglers to the first mentioned. 1829Family Libr. I. 70 The bees..carded it with their feet into a felted mass. 1876Mid. Yorksh. Gloss. (E.D.S.) s.v., To ‘card up’ a hearthstone is..merely to separate and remove the ashes and cinders. To ‘card up’ a room means, to put it generally to rights.
†2. To stir and mix with cards (see quot. 1607); to stir together, to mix. Obs.
1591G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (1857) 92 They drinke milke or warme blood, and for the most part carde them both together. 1592Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 241 You Tom Tapster..carde your beere..halfe smal & halfe strong. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 277 As for his diet, let it be warm mashes, sodden wheat and hay, thoroughly carded with a pair of Wool-cards. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. iii. (1636) 133 Wine, carded together with a little warme water.
fig.1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 62 The skipping King..carded his State, Mingled his Royaltie with Carping Fooles. 1627Feltham Resolves ii. xliii, Calm discussions do card affections into one another.
†3. To comb or cleanse (of impurities). Obs.
1612Shelton Quix. i. vi. I. 42 'Tis necessary that this Book be carded and purged of certain base things.
4. To scratch or tear the flesh with a wool-card or similar instrument, as a method of torture.
1556Chron. Gr. Friars (1852) 74 For cardynge of hare mayde wyth a payer of carddes soche as doth carde wolle with-alle. 1603Florio Montaigne (1634) 393 With Cardes and Teazels..he made him to be carded..untill he died of it. 1827Q. Rev. XXXV. 87 On the overthrow of his party he was taken prisoner, and carded to death. 1881W. E. Forster in Standard 25 Jan., ‘Card’ him—that is to say, an iron comb used for agricultural purposes is applied to the man's naked body.
5. Sc. ‘To scold sharply’ (Jamieson). [cf. Sp. cardar ‘to reprimand severely’, carda ‘a severe reprimand’.]
▪ VI. card, v.2|kɑːd|
[f. card n.2]
†1.
a. intr. To play at cards; to play one's cards. Also, to card it. to card a rest: to set up a rest (in Primero); fig. to stand to one's point.
1548Latimer Serm. Ploughers (1868) 25 Thei hauke, thei hunt, thei card, thei dyce. 1613Sherley Trav. 136 You shall hazard to Card ill, that play to please one by displeasing another. a1617Bayne On Eph. i. (1658) 166 Many that live revelling, carding, dicing. 1637Heywood Royal King ii. ii. Wks. 1874 VI. 32 Will you card A rest for this? 1728Fielding Love in sev. Masks Wks. 1775 I. 42 Lasses, that sleep all the morning, dress all the afternoon, and card it all night. 1766Anstey Bath Guide xiv. 6 Brother Simkin's grown a Rakehell, Cards and dances ev'ry Day.
†b. trans. to card away.
a1620J. Dyke Divers Sel. Serm. (1640) 169 It may bee they card and dice it [their trouble] away.
2. trans. (U.S.) To send a message by post-card to a person. Cf. wire v.
1875in Newspaper, Fulcitus carded almost daily his friend Ruisseaux. 1880(from a letter) Will you card to me here an answer to my friend the professor's question?
3. a. To fix on a card. (Frequent colloq. in trades where pattern-cards are used: see card n.2 9.)
1884Harper's Mag. Oct. 522/2 They are carded, and boxed in cotton-wool.
b. To write (something) on a card, e.g. for use in a card-index. Also const. up.
1925Mawer & Stenton Place-Names Bucks. p. v, Mrs. Stenton..has given invaluable help..in the work of carding up and identifying the place-names. 1934J. E. Mansion Harrap's Standard Fr. Dict. I. p. vi, To supplement these we must collect and ‘card’ our own material. 1968Times Lit. Suppl. 30 May 559/4 This isn't to say..that other readers may not have found and carded them [sc. words] earlier. |