Idiom
ace up one's sleeve
Meaning
A surprise advantage of which others are not aware.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“She has an ace up her sleeve for the final round.”
“The team looked like they were losing, but the coach had an ace up his sleeve to win the game.”
“Although the negotiations seemed deadlocked, the diplomat kept an ace up her sleeve, revealing a secret concession that ultimately secured the peace treaty.”
Examples
simple
“She has an ace up her sleeve for the final round.”
contextual
“The team looked like they were losing, but the coach had an ace up his sleeve to win the game.”
complex
“Although the negotiations seemed deadlocked, the diplomat kept an ace up her sleeve, revealing a secret concession that ultimately secured the peace treaty.”
Origin
From the practice of hiding a high-value playing card in one's sleeve for dishonest use during a game, particularly poker. The ace is retained until its deployment becomes necessary to ensure a favourable outcome.
Key words
Related idioms
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