chest one's cards
The phrase is derived from the practice in card games where players hold their cards close to their chest to prevent others from seeing them.
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Definition
C1General
(informal, idiomatic)To keep one's thoughts, plans, or intentions secret and not reveal them to others.
Example
- He decided to chest his cards during the negotiation, revealing nothing about his true intentions.
- She always chests her cards when it comes to her future plans.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "chest one's cards":
breast one's cardstip one's handhole cardplay with a full deckoverplay one's handbare one's breastblow the gaffshow one's clawsbeat one's chestcold deck