overplay your hand

overplay your hand
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 problems for yourselfsynonym
Main entry: overplay

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overplay your hand (also overplay your cards)
: to make a mistake because you believe that your position is stronger or better than it really is

The union overplayed its hand by demanding too much, causing the company to withdraw what would have been its best offer.

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Main Entry:overplay

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overplay your ˈhand idiom
to spoil your chance of success by judging your position to be stronger than it really is
Main entry:overplayidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • 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 your hand —    If you overplay your hand, you are overconfident and spoil your chances of success by trying to obtain too much.     Sam is hoping for a bonus for his good results, but he may be overplaying his hand if he asks for a promotion …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • overplay your hand — 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 …   English 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

  • hand — hand1 W1S1 [hænd] n ↑finger, ↑fingernail, ↑thumb ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(part of body)¦ 2¦(help)¦ 3¦(control)¦ 4 get out of hand 5 on the other hand 6 hands off 7 in hand …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • hand — 1 noun PART OF THE BODY 1 (C) the part at the end of a person s arm, including the fingers and thumb, used to pick up or keep hold of things: He held the pencil in his right hand. | Go wash your hands. | hold hands: They kissed and held hands. |… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • 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

  • 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 — o|ver|play [ˌəuvəˈpleı US ˌouvər ] v [T] 1.) to make something seem more important than it is ≠ ↑underplay ▪ His role in the group s success has been overplayed. 2.) overplay your hand to behave too confidently because you think you are in a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • overplay — o|ver|play [ ,ouvər pleı ] verb transitive to treat something as being more important or severe than it really is overplay your hand to believe you are in a stronger situation or position than you really are and fail as a result …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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