cold deck

noun

Cards Slang.

1. a pack with the cards in prearranged order, secretly exchanged for the one in use; stacked deck.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cold deck¹

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60

Example Sentences

It’s less than awe-inspiring, for instance, that Guimarães has to tell us he has completed Kevin’s “cold deck” deception, a holy grail act of prestidigitation in which all 52 cards are secretly switched out for 52 others.

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The odds are effectively stacked against "Cold Deck" from the get-go.

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If we hadn't been a lot of hayseed amateurs, we might have found out long ago that some one was running in a cold deck on us.

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You've been hackin' the keen edge of my finer feelin's; playin' it very low down on my moral and religious nature, generally ringin' in a cold deck on my spiritual condition for the last five years.

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Wait for what turns up, an’ remember God ain’t dealing from a cold deck.”

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