carte blanche: Meaning and Definition of

carte blanche

Pronunciation: (kärt' blanch', blänch' Fr. kart blänsh'), [key]
— pl. cartes blanches
  1. unconditional authority; full discretionary power.
  2. a sheet of paper that is blank except for a signature and given by the signer to another person to write in what he or she pleases.
  3. a hand having no face card but with a special scoring value, as in piquet.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.