up your sleeve
- hiddenKept out of sight
- secretConcealed information
- trickDeliberate deception
- cardStiff paper rectangle
- aceSingle-pip card
concealed · surprise · magic · cunning · scheme · plan · reserve · backup · waiting · reveal · magician · deception · strategy · stash · tucked · cuff · poker · bluff
concealment vs. openness
up your sleeveout in the open
Visible to everyone
on the table · laid bare · cards on the table · in plain sight · transparent
strategic reserve vs. immediate deployment
up your sleeveempty-handed
Possessing nothing to show
nothing left · tapped out · all in · spent · scraped the bottom of the barrel