carte blanche
unconditional authority; full discretionary power: It appears that the government has given the military carte blanche.She was given carte blanche to decorate her room as she wished, perhaps an unwise decision by her parents.
a sheet of paper that is blank except for a signature and given by the signer to another person to write in what they please.
Cards. a hand having no face card but with a special scoring value, as in piquet.
Origin of carte blanche
1word story For carte blanche
By the 18th century, the meaning had expanded to include a blank piece of paper which someone signed, trusting a second party to come up with the stipulations of a deal. This idea of signing a yet unwritten contract and handing over authority to the other party led us to the sense most familiar to speakers of modern-day English. Nowadays, if someone has been given carte blanche, it means that the person is free to do or say whatever they please.
Note that it is a mistake to say “a carte blanche” unless you are talking about a piquet hand or a blank, signed contract. When used in the sense of giving someone free rein, you say the person has been given “carte blanche,” and not “a carte blanche.”
On the other hand, blank check, a term with very similar meanings, is always used with “a” or some other determiner. That term underwent the same progression as carte blanche from its literal meaning to a figurative one (as in Congress gave the president a blank check of unconditional support ). Unlike carte blanche, however, the literal meaning has not fallen out of use. We may rarely play piquet today, but we still occasionally write checks.
popular references For carte blanche
— Carte Blanche: A painting by Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It depicts a horse and rider, apparently walking through a forest, though closer inspection shows the forest visible through the horse and rider. The painting is meant as a meditation on art and its relationship to reality.
— Carte Blanche: An album released by American hip-hop artist Phat Kat in the late 2000s.
— Carte Blanche: The 37th novel in the James Bond franchise, written by Jeffery Deaver.
Other words for carte blanche
Words Nearby carte blanche
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use carte blanche in a sentence
Under Brnovich, for example, states are likely to have carte blanche to roll back early voting and absentee voting, as well as other, similar innovations that became common in the last four decades.
3 winners and 3 losers from the just-completed Supreme Court term | Ian Millhiser | July 2, 2021 | VoxEvery year in training camp Reid gives him carte blanche to fire away and not worry about interceptions, because “he’s got to figure out what he can and can’t get away with,” Reid said back in August.
Patrick Mahomes has unmatched physical gifts. His intellect might be what sets him apart. | Sally Jenkins | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostThe current system gives companies like AbbVie, Pfizer, Biogen, and all the titans of the industry nearly carte blanche on how to price their medicines, no matter how long ago they were created.
It’s the New Year, and pharma companies are already hiking prices for popular drugs | Sy Mukherjee | January 4, 2021 | FortuneAm I suggesting we give Big Dogs carte blanche to run wild, bedding every pretty young thing who catches their eye?
If overturned, each state would have carte blanche to end access to abortion.
Women, Don’t Be Fooled: Mitt Romney Will End Safe and Legal Abortion | Dawn Laguens | October 12, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Is it just something that they have carte blanche to do as they see fit?
So much so that Wisniak receives money from advertisers carte blanche—and then conceives and executes her own ads.
So women seem to have carte blanche to express every hue of their sexuality.
Part of that idea was sham bric-à-brac, the rest was carte blanche to Messrs. Spick and Span.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsHe designed it entirely himself; he had not to compete for the building of it, but had carte blanche in regard to every detail.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing MillerI have carte blanche, and say what I like; but does any single soul understand me?
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) | Robert Louis StevensonAt all events, she gave me carte blanche to publish the results of my observations.
Mystic London: | Charles Maurice DaviesIf you doubt my word I give you carte blanche to ask my aunt, Mrs. Egerton, or even Mr. Templeton himself.
A Dreadful Temptation | Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
British Dictionary definitions for carte blanche
/ (ˈkɑːt ˈblɑːntʃ, French kart blɑ̃ʃ) /
complete discretion or authority: the government gave their negotiator carte blanche
cards a piquet hand containing no court cards: scoring ten points
Origin of carte blanche
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for carte blanche
[ (kahrt blahnsh, kahrt blahnch) ]
To be given “carte blanche” is to receive the power and authority to do as one wishes: “The prime minister herself did not take any action on the refugee issue but gave her minister of the interior carte blanche to deal with the situation.” Carte blanche is French for “blank card,” meaning one that can be filled in as a person wishes.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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