wild card
noun
1
: an unknown or unpredictable factor
2
: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined
3
usually wildcard
: a symbol (such as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters
Examples of wild card in a Sentence
The joker is a wild card.
Taxes are the wild card in this election.
The team made it into the play-offs as the wild card.
Recent Examples on the Web
Earlier Tuesday, Wimbledon organizers announced that Williams and her older sider Venus, who turns 46 on Wednesday, were being given a doubles wild card invitation for the tournament that starts in less than two weeks.
—
ABC News, 16 June 2026
In men's doubles, a wild card went to the pairing of Alexander Bublik and Nick Kyrgios.
—CBS News, 16 June 2026
Two men’s singles wild cards were left open.
—Andrew Dampf, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026
Similar rules were in place when the Knicks played the Pistons in Detroit during the NBA playoffs last year, and the Yankees limited American League wild card ticket sales to residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
—Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 13 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for wild card
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ABC News, 16 June 2026
In men's doubles, a wild card went to the pairing of Alexander Bublik and Nick Kyrgios.
—CBS News, 16 June 2026
Two men’s singles wild cards were left open.
—Andrew Dampf, Chicago Tribune, 16 June 2026
Similar rules were in place when the Knicks played the Pistons in Detroit during the NBA playoffs last year, and the Yankees limited American League wild card ticket sales to residents of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
—Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 13 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for wild card
Cite this Entry
“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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