overplay your hand — phrase to believe you are in a stronger situation or position than you really are and fail as a result He overplayed his hand, and his arrogance lost him the election. Thesaurus: to make a mistake, or to do something badlysynonym to cause… … Useful english dictionary
overplay — ► VERB ▪ overemphasize. ● overplay one s hand Cf. ↑overplay one s hand … English terms dictionary
overplay — (v.) to emphasize (something) too much, 1930, a metaphor from card games, in to overplay (one s) hand, to spoil one s hand by bidding in excess of its value, from OVER (Cf. over) + PLAY (Cf. play) (v.) … Etymology dictionary
overplay one's hand — ► overplay one s hand spoil one s chance of success through excessive confidence. Main Entry: ↑overplay … English terms dictionary
overplay — [ō΄vər plā′, ō′vər plā΄] vt. 1. to overact, overdo, or overemphasize 2. to overestimate the strength of (one s hand in cards) and be defeated as a result: the phrase overplay one s hand is usually used figuratively … English World dictionary
overplay your cards — see ↑overplay • • • Main Entry: ↑card … Useful english dictionary
overplay your hand — overplay (your) hand mainly American to try to get more advantages from a situation than you are likely to get. I m going to ask for promotion but I think it might be overplaying my hand to ask to work fewer hours as well … New idioms dictionary
overplay hand — overplay (your) hand mainly American to try to get more advantages from a situation than you are likely to get. I m going to ask for promotion but I think it might be overplaying my hand to ask to work fewer hours as well … New idioms dictionary
overplay — [v] be dramatic accent, accentuate, blow out of proportion*, dramatize, exaggerate, get carried away*, ham it up*, hyperbolize, labor at, lay it on thick*, magnify, maximize, mug*, overact, overdo, overdraw, overemphasize, overstate, overstress,… … New thesaurus
overplay — UK [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈpleɪ] / US [ˌoʊvərˈpleɪ] verb [transitive] Word forms overplay : present tense I/you/we/they overplay he/she/it overplays present participle overplaying past tense overplayed past participle overplayed to treat something as being… … English dictionary
overplay — verb (T) 1 to make something seem more important than it is: The poet s importance is overplayed by his biographer. opposite underplay (1) 2 overplay your hand to try to gain more advantage than you know you can reasonably expect: If you re… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
