Idiom
keep one's cards close to one's chest
Meaning
To avoid revealing one's thoughts, circumstances, or plans.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He keeps his cards close to his chest about his new project.”
“You should keep your cards close to your chest during the house auction.”
“The candidate kept his cards close to his chest during the interview, refusing to discuss his salary expectations until he received an official offer.”
“My brother is keeping his cards close to his chest about where he wants to go for dinner because he wants the location to be a total surprise.”
“In the high-stakes world of corporate negotiations, the lead lawyer preferred to keep her cards close to her chest, revealing her strategy only when the moment was most advantageous.”
Examples
simple
“He keeps his cards close to his chest about his new project.”
“You should keep your cards close to your chest during the house auction.”
contextual
“The candidate kept his cards close to his chest during the interview, refusing to discuss his salary expectations until he received an official offer.”
“My brother is keeping his cards close to his chest about where he wants to go for dinner because he wants the location to be a total surprise.”
complex
“In the high-stakes world of corporate negotiations, the lead lawyer preferred to keep her cards close to her chest, revealing her strategy only when the moment was most advantageous.”
Origin
The figurative sense represents a self-evident extension from the literal practice of card playing. A player wishing to prevent rivals from seeing his hand holds the cards near his body, a posture of caution that transitioned into a metaphor for discretion. The phrase relies upon the immediate visual logic of the gaming table, where physical proximity to the torso serves as a rudimentary form of security.
Key words
Related idioms
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