écarté

American  

[ey-kahr-tey, ey-kahr-tey, ey-kar-tey] / ˌeɪ kɑrˈteɪ, eɪˈkɑr teɪ, eɪ karˈteɪ /

noun

1. a card game for two players.

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écarté British  

/ ekarte, eɪˈkɑːteɪ /

noun

1. a card game for two, played with 32 cards and king high

2. ballet

   1. a body position in which one arm and the same leg are extended at the side of the body

   2. ( as adjective )

      the écarté position

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Etymology

Origin of écarté

Borrowed into English from French around 1815–25

Example Sentences

"Yes, at cards, you know—at écarté, or piquet, or one of those games."

From My Little Lady by Poynter, Eleanor Frances

The English aristocrat, male or female, cared only for cards, and no noble lady dreamed of remaining long in an assembly where piquet and écarté were not going on.

From Side Lights by Allen, Grant

Night after night, tables are there set out for loo, écarté, rouge et noir, or whatever may be called for—in a small way resembling the hells of Homburg, Baden, and Monaco—wanting only the women.

From Gwen Wynn A Romance of the Wye by Reid, Mayne

"And some of them play bridge and écarté."

From The Lure of the Mask by Fisher, Harrison

After clairvoyance, induced by passes, Alexis is blindfolded carefully, and then, with the host's own pack of cards, wins blindfolded at games of écarté with myself.

From My Life as an Author by Tupper, Martin Farquhar