put to one's trumps

put to one's trumps

English

Verb

put to one's trumps

1. To force to the last expedient, or to the utmost exertion.
   • Milton

     But when kings come so low as to fawn upon philosophy, which before they neither valued nor understood, it is a sign that fails not, they are then put to their last trump.

   • Washing Irving

     Put the housekeeper to her trumps to accommodate them.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for put to one's trumps in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)