chest one's cards

English

Verb

chest one's cards (third-person singular simple present chests one's cards, present participle chesting one's cards, simple past and past participle chested one's cards)

1. (card games) To hold one's hand close to one's chest so that other players cannot see the cards.
   • 1930, Lowry Charles Wimberly, Prairie Schooner - Volumes 4-5, page 231:

     Another hand was dealt. Skookum chested his cards, looked down into them with one bright eye. The game went on.

   • 1969, Conde nast publications, Vogue's book of etiquette and good manners, page 71:

     The request, "Chest your cards, please," or an equivalent, should be obeyed promptly.

   • 2003, Jake Austen, A Friendly Game of Poker: 52 Takes on the Neighborhood Game, →ISBN:

     Mark also loved to gamble, and wanted nothing more than to elope to Vegas. I did not. He found someone who did. There was one other thing I learned — I learned to chest my cards, because I was famous for flashing.

2. Synonym of keep one's cards close to one's chest
   • 1994, Kent Spriggs, Representing plaintiffs in Title VII actions - Volume 1, page 421:

     As is now obvious, the element that is different from other discovery techniques discussed above is that the defendant is actually at risk: if it continues "chesting its cards," it may pay the price of being found liable, at least in part.

   • 2013, Michael Wheeler, The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World, →ISBN:

     The hardball line tells you to chest your cards (and maybe slip a couple up your sleeve).

   • 2018, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, Gerald B. Kauvar, E. Gordon Gee, Leading Colleges and Universities: Lessons from Higher Education Leaders, →ISBN:

     So their response to the “chest your cards” strategy is to ask even more questions, which, given an uninformed and suspicious board, may lead to even greater meddling.