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                        1
                           general:: 
                           Phrase(s): ace in the hole [and] someone’s ace in the hole  Fig. something important held in reserve.  •  The twenty-dollar bill I keep in my shoe is my ace in the hole.
                           
                           
                           
                           
                        
    
                       
                    
                        
                        
                        
                    
 
                    
                        McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
                    
                    
                    
                        2
                           general:: 
                           A hidden advantage or resource kept in reserve until needed, as in The prosecutor had an ace in the hole: an eyewitness. The term comes from stud poker, where each player is dealt one card face down? the so-called hole card? and the rest face up. Should the hole card be an ace, the player has a hidden advantage. Hole here simply means "a hiding place." In the 19th-century American West, the expression was used to refer to a hidden weapon, such as a gun concealed in a shoulder holster. By the 1920s it had become a metaphor for any surprise advantage or leverage.
                           
                           
                           
                           
                        
    
                       
                    
                        
                        
                        
                    
 
                    
                        American Heritage Idioms
                    
                    
                    
                        3
                           general:: 
                           Phrase(s): someone’s ace in the hole  Go to ace in the hole.
                           
                           
                           
                           
                        
    
                       
                    
                        
                        
                        
                    
 
                    
                        McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs