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Definition

To be in a strong position, possessing significant advantages over someone else; to be in control of a situation involving multiple parties.

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In Context

  • ""[B]ut if you make conditions I have no choice but to accept them, seeing that you hold the cards.""
  • "Once a ticket is paid for and the airline has your money, it holds the cards."
  • ""In the short term, from a power perspective, the current Zimbabwe elite is holding the cards," says Steven Friedman, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy."
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Also Said As

  • hold all the aces
  • hold the aces
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See Also