wild card
noun
1
: an unknown or unpredictable factor
2
: one picked to fill a leftover playoff or tournament berth after regularly qualifying competitors have all been determined
3
usually wildcard
: a symbol (such as ? or *) used in a keyword database search to represent the presence of zero, one, or more than one unspecified characters
Examples of wild card in a Sentence
The joker is a wild card.
Taxes are the wild card in this election.
The team made it into the play-offs as the wild card.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Los Angeles Chargers and the Denver Broncos, both 9-6, currently hold the final two wild card spots.
—
Sean Treppedi, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
The losers will be in a race with Boston for the one wild card spot, to be determined by point differential.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
That’s why, each month, our Feel-Good Food Plan—with nourishing recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new.
—Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appétit, 1 Dec. 2024
McClane is, in his words, the fly in the ointment, the one wild card that Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman in a towering big-screen debut) couldn’t anticipate.
—Janey Tracey, EW.com, 29 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wild card 
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Sean Treppedi, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
The losers will be in a race with Boston for the one wild card spot, to be determined by point differential.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
That’s why, each month, our Feel-Good Food Plan—with nourishing recipes and a few wild cards—is hosted by someone new.
—Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appétit, 1 Dec. 2024
McClane is, in his words, the fly in the ointment, the one wild card that Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman in a towering big-screen debut) couldn’t anticipate.
—Janey Tracey, EW.com, 29 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wild card
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Cite this Entry
“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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