| Idiom | Ace up Your Sleeve |
|---|---|
| Example | I don't know how Henry is going to get his mom to buy him a bike, but I'm sure he has an ace up his sleeve. |
| Meaning | a surprise or secret advantage, especially something tricky that is kept hidden until needed |
| Origin | Back in the 1500s most people didn't have pockets in their clothes, so they kept things in their sleeves. Later on, magicians hid objects, even small live animals, up their sleeves and then pulled them out unexpectedly to surprise their audiences. In the 1800s dishonest card players secretly slipped a winning card, often an ace, up their sleeves and pulled it out when nobody was looking to win the game. |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Heel achilles trojan war student math science english
Previous card: Satisfying befriedigend
Up to card list: Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms