(BrE) (NAmE in the 'cards) (informal) likely to happen b[ ib ‘A A  He : The merger has been on the cards

for some time now.    =M'lf ELM & SI 7 ~ Wl W N „

play the ... card to mention a particular subject, idea or quality in order to gain an advantage f J ■■•}$; f±J • • • JS: He accused his opponent of playing the immigration card during the campaign, jtk Hf M *t -f• & H iS 4*1 A f T $ — see also race card play your 'cards right to deal successfully with a particular situation so that you achieve some advantage or sth that you want fy ft ; jiftMW'il'ih &3Slf#=3 — more at show v., stacked

■                  verb [VN] 1 (technical 7: i§) to clean wool using a wire

instrument ( ) MUS 2 {NAmE, informal) to ask

a person to show their identity card as a means of checking how old they are, for example if they want to buy alcohol ^A&/7»uE       «J ffl )

car da mom /'kaidamam; NAmE 'ka:rd-/ noun [u] the dried seeds of a SE Asian plant, used in cooking as a spice SI# (        )

card-board CHr /'kmdboid; NAmE -ka:rdbo:rd/ noun, adj.

k noun [U] stiff material like very thick paper, often used for making boxes 5££ftfe, 7rife ( #/HTIlJiili7 ) : a cardboard box Ifeioa piece of cardboard A 5®

M

■                  adj. [only before noun] not seeming real or genuine AH

fHj ; )-S fg $•) : a novel with superficial cardboard

characters

,cardboard ’city noun an area of a city where people who have nowhere to live sleep outside, protected only by cardboard boxes ( MAA ) ri

flilK

'card-carrying adj. [only before noun] known to be an official and usually active member of a political organ­ization ( 2ft v& iR ) IE fe 'ft W :         a card-carrying

member of the Conservative party 'card catalog noun (NAmE) = card index 'card game noun a game in which playing cards are used fflEfc

cardholder /'ka:dh9old0(r); NAmE 'kairdhool-/ noun a person who has a credit card from a bank, etc. f# W fa

m-k

cardiac /'kaidiaek; NAmE 'ka:rd-/ adj. [only before noun] (medical @E) connected with the heart or heart disease (tfj; 7' Jfi ^ :        cardiac disease/failure/surgery

'll'.ffi^; 7 Ait^; 7'HiiA A 0 to suffer cardiac arrest (= an occasion when a person’s heart stops temporarily or permanently)

cardigan /’kctidigan; NAmE ’karrd-/ (NAmE also .cardigan 'sweater) noun a knitted jacket made of wool, usually with no collar and fastened with buttons at the front ( ) Ef M 7 A —picture o

PAGE R.22

cardin al /'kaidinl; NAmE 'ka:rd-/ noun, adj. m noun 1 a priest of the highest rank in the Roman Cath­olic Church. Cardinals elect and advise the Pope. U HI; feHlifelft: Cardinal Hume A M fe HI A 2 (also .cardinal 'number) a number, such as 1, 2 and 3, used to show quantity rather than order 3SJ&; it — compare ordinal 3 a N American bird. The male cardinal is bright red. ( JE7AII, W-'%

Ufa )

m adj. [only before noun] (formal) most important; having other things based on it H f       S A1$: Respect for

life is a cardinal principle of English law. ^flc A

.cardinal 'points noun [pi.] (technical A ilf) the four main points (North, South, East and West) of the compass SAAfl (          it)

.cardinal 'sin noun 1 (sometimes humorous) an action that is a serious mistake or that other people disap­prove of f2 Mil A; ills: He committed the cardinal sin of criticizing his teammates. fME 7       Alth

2 a serious sin in the Christian Church ( St

m.

.cardinal ‘vowel noun (phonetics ig#) one of a set of vowels which are used as reference points when