Wildcards
Last Updated: January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Scrabble:16 ptsWWF:18 pts9 letters
Definition of Wildcards
noun
- In card games, a card that can be assigned any value or used to substitute for any needed card.
- A competitor or team that is allowed to compete in a tournament despite not reaching the normal standards to qualify for inclusion.
"Kye Sun-Hui won an Olympic gold medal in Judo, despite being a wild card."
- A character that substitutes for other characters in regular expressions and globbing
noun
- A character that takes the place of any other character or string that is not known or specified.
"If the character * is acting as a wildcard, then the pattern a*m matches each of the words amalgam, atom and alum."
- (also written wild card) An uncontrolled or unpredictable element.
- (also written wild card) An element, often deliberately concealed, which is withheld for contingency.