tricks up one's sleeve
Secret backup plans
Secret resources, strategies, or abilities held in reserve for use when needed.
The image comes from a magician concealing objects in a sleeve.
Someone with tricks up their sleeve has hidden advantages not yet revealed: Don't count her out—she always has a few tricks up her sleeve.
The phrase often implies cunning or resourcefulness.
- contingencyUncertain possible event
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
- bluffCalculated false front
- sleight of handSkillful manual deception
- innovationCreating something original
ruse · flexibility · workaround · foresight · premeditation · improvisation · resourcefulness · cleverness · resilience · secret weapon · wild card · hidden agenda · feint · ace in the hole · tactic · plan B · last resort · maneuver
tricks up one's sleevecards on the table
Total openness about intentions
open book · wearing one's heart on one's sleeve · laid bare · out in the open · plain to see
tricks up one's sleeveat wit's end
Utterly without solutions
empty-handed · tapped out · backed into a corner · scraping the bottom of the barrel · dead in the water
tricks up one's sleeveabove board
Honest and unconcealed
brute force · plain dealing · what you see is what you get · on the level · forthright
trick, tricks, tricked, tricking, trickery, trickster, tricky, trickier, trickiest