dare le carte

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to give the cards”.

Verb

dàre le carte (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) dò le carte, first-person singular past historic dièdi le carte or diédi le carte or détti le carte or (traditional) dètti le carte, past participle dàto le carte, first-person singular future darò le carte, first-person singular subjunctive dìa le carte, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive déssi le carte, second-person singular imperative dài le carte or dà' le carte, auxiliary avére)

1. to give out cards (during the course of a card game)
2. (figurative, by extension) to assign roles; to broker power; to pull the strings

   Synonym: tirare i fili

   • 2022 February 10, Mario Ajello, “Salvini e Meloni uniti sul fronte del "ni vax": «Non vacciniamo i figli» [Salvini and Meloni united on the front of the "no vax": "We do not vaccinate children"]”, in Il Messaggero‎^[1]:

     Meloni dice di Salvini: «Punto ad essere il primo partito della coalizione e a dare le carte».

     Meloni says of Salvini: "I aim to be the first party in the coalition and to pull the strings.