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

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

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, The Awkward Age, ch. 4:

     "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, The Thirty-Nine Steps, ch. 4:

     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, Tangled Trails, ch. 10:

     "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?," 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

• Finnish: lyödä kortit pöytään
• French: jouer cartes sur table (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: die Karten auf den Tisch legen
• Russian: раскры́ть ка́рты pf (raskrýtʹ kárty)