Deck

A pack of cards, or that part of the pack which is left after the hands have been dealt.

“But whilst he thought to steal the single ‘ten,ʹ

The ‘kingʹ was slyly fingered from the deck.”

Shakespeare: 3 Henry VI., v. 1.

To sweep the deck. To clear off all the stakes. (See above.)

To deck is to decorate or adorn. (Anglo-Saxon, decan; Dutch, dekken, to cover.)

“I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid,

And not have strewed thy grave.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, v. 1.

Clear the decks—i.e. get out of the way; your room is better than your company; I am going to be busy. A sea term. Decks are cleared before action.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.