carte blanche

[kahrt blanch, blahnch, kart blahnsh]

noun

plural

cartes blanches 

1. 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.

   Synonyms: free hand, blank check, free rein, license

2. 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.

3. Cards.,  a hand having no face card but with a special scoring value, as in piquet.

carte blanche

/ kart blɑ̃ʃ, ˈkɑːt ˈblɑːntʃ /

noun

1. complete discretion or authority

   the government gave their negotiator carte blanche

2. cards a piquet hand containing no court cards: scoring ten points

carte blanche

1. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of carte blanche¹

First recorded in 1655–65 as blank, blanck , or blanche (without carte ) in the card game sense, in 1700–10 in the sense “blank, signed document,” and in 1760–70 in the sense “discretionary power”; from French: literally, “blank document”; carte, blank

Word History and Origins

Origin of carte blanche¹

C18: from French: blank paper

Example Sentences

Saban said she doesn't want the study "to be taken as giving people a carte blanche" to suggest that human activity does not present a significant and urgent threat to many species.

Read more on Science Daily

Though the Supreme Court has upheld limits on the size of contributions, government doesn’t have carte blanche to stifle political donations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some of the loudest voices in public life now assert that their donations give them carte blanche to dictate the terms of belonging.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Immigration agents have been acting as though they have carte blanche to detain people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, conducting raids that have sometimes swept up American citizens.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Outside of that, I was given carte blanche and I could just play.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blank check 
• free rein 
• latitude 
• power of attorney