overplay your hand

overplay your hand
overplay (your) hand mainly American to try to get more advantages from a situation than you are likely to get.

I'm going to ask for promotion but I think it might be overplaying my hand to ask to work fewer hours as well.


New idioms dictionary. 2014.

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  • overplay your hand — phrase to believe you are in a stronger situation or position than you really are and fail as a result He overplayed his hand, and his arrogance lost him the election. Thesaurus: to make a mistake, or to do something badlysynonym to cause… …   Useful english dictionary

  • overplay your hand —    If you overplay your hand, you are overconfident and spoil your chances of success by trying to obtain too much.     Sam is hoping for a bonus for his good results, but he may be overplaying his hand if he asks for a promotion …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • overplay your hand — to believe you are in a stronger situation or position than you really are and fail as a result He overplayed his hand, and his arrogance lost him the election …   English dictionary

  • overplay hand — overplay (your) hand mainly American to try to get more advantages from a situation than you are likely to get. I m going to ask for promotion but I think it might be overplaying my hand to ask to work fewer hours as well …   New idioms dictionary

  • hand — hand1 W1S1 [hænd] n ↑finger, ↑fingernail, ↑thumb ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(part of body)¦ 2¦(help)¦ 3¦(control)¦ 4 get out of hand 5 on the other hand 6 hands off 7 in hand …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • hand — 1 noun PART OF THE BODY 1 (C) the part at the end of a person s arm, including the fingers and thumb, used to pick up or keep hold of things: He held the pencil in his right hand. | Go wash your hands. | hold hands: They kissed and held hands. |… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • overplay — verb (T) 1 to make something seem more important than it is: The poet s importance is overplayed by his biographer. opposite underplay (1) 2 overplay your hand to try to gain more advantage than you know you can reasonably expect: If you re… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • overplay — UK [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈpleɪ] / US [ˌoʊvərˈpleɪ] verb [transitive] Word forms overplay : present tense I/you/we/they overplay he/she/it overplays present participle overplaying past tense overplayed past participle overplayed to treat something as being… …   English dictionary

  • overplay — o|ver|play [ˌəuvəˈpleı US ˌouvər ] v [T] 1.) to make something seem more important than it is ≠ ↑underplay ▪ His role in the group s success has been overplayed. 2.) overplay your hand to behave too confidently because you think you are in a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • overplay — o|ver|play [ ,ouvər pleı ] verb transitive to treat something as being more important or severe than it really is overplay your hand to believe you are in a stronger situation or position than you really are and fail as a result …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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