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"Trump card" redirects here. For the game show, see Trump Card (game show). For Top Trumps, see Top Trumps.
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its normal rank in trick-taking games. Typically an entire suit is nominated as a trump suit - these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the term trump card can refer to any sort of action, authority, or policy which automatically prevails over all others.
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Etymology
The word "trump" derives from "trionfi" or "triumph", documented as the name of a card game in 1529 and which spawned the game Ruff and Honours, which in turn led to Whist.[1] Trionfo was also the name of the original card game for which tarot cards were designed, and in it the tarot cards had the role of what are now called trumps; later card game rules were designed to use one of the ordinary suits as a replacement for the tarots when a tarot pack was not available.
Trumps in card games
In most games, the relative rank of cards within a suit is the same in trump and plain suits, but they may sometimes differ, as for example in Klabberjass or Euchre.
The trump suit may be fixed as in Spades, rotate on a fixed schedule or depend on the outcome of the previous hand as in Ninety-nine, be determined by drawing a card at random as in Bezique, by the last card dealt to a designated player as in Whist, by the first card played as in Nine Card Don, be chosen by a designated player as in Barbu, or players may bid for the right to select the trump suit as in Contract Bridge or Skat.
In most games, trump cards cannot be played if the player has any cards of the suit led to the trick; in a few, trumps can be played at any time. Playing the first trump to an already-started trick is known as ruffing; if another player were to play a higher trump, that would be an overruff or more commonly an overtrump.
Metaphorical uses
From this card game use came metaphoric uses, e.g.:
- "He trumped my ace" for "I thought that I had a winning advantage, but he brought along something to defeat it."
- "At the hotel I ordered fresh orange juice with my breakfast ... the waiter brought out a trump excuse that there was not an orange in town."
See also
References
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