First Known Use: 1971
Dictionary
wild card
noun
: a playing card that can represent any other card in a game
: a person or thing that could affect a situation in a way that cannot be predicted : an unknown or unpredictable factor
sports : a player or team chosen to fill a place in a competition after the regularly qualified players or teams have all been decided
Full Definition of WILD CARD
1
: an unknown or unpredictable factor
2
: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined
3
usually wild·card : a symbol (as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters
See wild card defined for English-language learners
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Origin of WILD CARD
wild card, playing card with arbitrarily determined value
Rhymes with WILD CARD
Asgard, backyard, barnyard, blackguard, blowhard, boatyard, bombard, boneyard, brassard, brickyard, charge card, churchyard, cloth yard, coast guard, courtyard, dance card, deeryard, die-hard, diehard, discard, dockyard, dooryard, face card, farmyard, fireguard, flash card, foulard, Fugard, Gerard, graveyard, green card, ill-starred, jacquard, junkyard, lifeguard, main yard, mansard, mass card, Midgard, milliard, mudguard, noseguard, off guard, old guard, on guard, Oxnard, phone card, Picard, placard, point guard, postcard, poularde, punch card, rear guard, rearguard, Red Guard, regard, retard, ritard, safeguard, scorecard, shipyard, smart card, sound card, spikenard, steelyard, stockyard, switchyard, tabard, tanyard, tiltyard, time card, unbarred, unguard, vizard
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