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
Meanwhile, the Senate special wild card: The fundamentals of Senate District 45 in the west metro favor Democrats, but the GOP is spending big on the race between former DFL Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart and Republican Kathleen Fowke.
—
Torey Van Oot, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024
Meta’s approach to AI is proving a wild card in the corporate race for dominance.
—Paresh Dave, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
Read more: Libertarian candidate a wild card in swing states.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 29 Oct. 2024
Central Division wild card winners Detroit and the Royals advanced to the second round with only one real star between them.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wild card 
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Torey Van Oot, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024
Meta’s approach to AI is proving a wild card in the corporate race for dominance.
—Paresh Dave, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2024
Read more: Libertarian candidate a wild card in swing states.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 29 Oct. 2024
Central Division wild card winners Detroit and the Royals advanced to the second round with only one real star between them.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for wild card
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Dictionary Entries Near wild card
Cite this Entry
“Wild card.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild%20card. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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