holding all the cards
Total strategic control
Holding all the cards means having complete control or a decisive advantage in a situation.
The metaphor comes from card games where having all the important cards guarantees victory.
Someone holding all the cards can dictate terms because others have no leverage: The company was holding all the cards in the salary negotiation.
- in controlManaging with authority
- upper handPosition of control
- calling the shotsBeing the one deciding
- leverageBorrowed capital for amplified returns
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
in the driver's seat · authority · supremacy · power play · choice · edge · positioning · maneuverability · checkmate · trump card · ace up sleeve · influence · command · winning hand · full house · stacked deck · mastery · sway
holding all the cardspowerless
Lacking strength or authority
over a barrel · outmatched · helpless · subordinate · on the back foot
holding all the cardsvulnerable
Open to attack
exposed · defenseless · unprotected · at risk · on thin ice
holding all the cardsbacked into a corner
between a rock and a hard place · boxed in · trapped · cornered · hamstrung
holds, holder, holders, holding, holdings, behold, beholder, withhold, uphold