blanche

carte blanche

The freedom to do whatever one wants or deems necessary, especially with a particular task or assignment. This French phrase means "blank card" in English. I can't believe the boss gave me carte blanche to organize the conference—he's usually such a micro-manager!
See also: blanche, carte

give (one) carte blanche

To give one the freedom to do whatever one wants or deems necessary, especially with a particular task or assignment. This French phrase means "blank card" in English. I can't believe the boss gave me carte blanche to organize the conference—he's usually such a micromanager!
See also: blanche, carte, give
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*carte blanche

Fig. freedom or permission to act as one wishes or thinks necessary. (*Typically: get ~; have ~; give someone ~.) He's been given carte blanche with the reorganization of the workforce. The manager has been given no instructions about how to train the staff. He has carte blanche from the owner.
See also: blanche, carte
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

ˌcarte ˈblanche (to do something)

(from French) complete freedom or authority to do anything you like: The detective was given carte blanche to read any files he liked in his search for the murderer.The French expression means ‘blank paper’ on which somebody could write their own conditions for an agreement.
See also: blanche, carte
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

carte blanche

Complete freedom, unlimited power. The term is French for “blank paper,” used in the same sense as “blank check”—that is, anything may be filled in. In the 1600s it was used in the military for unconditional surrender. After World War I it was broadened to civilian contexts, such as “He’s the best mechanic we have; the boss gave him carte blanche to handle all the repairs.”
See also: blanche, carte
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • carte blanche
  • give (one) carte blanche
  • a blank check
  • blank check
  • accomplished
  • mission accomplished
  • a blank cheque
  • cheque
  • sour grapes
  • cheap at the price
References in classic literature
Once I had to use actual force to prevent him from buying a phaeton at a price of seven hundred francs, after a vehicle had caught his fancy in the Palais Royal as seeming to be a desirable present for Blanche. What could SHE have done with a seven-hundred-franc phaeton?--and the General possessed in the world but a thousand francs!
As for what view the General took of myself, I think that he never divined the footing on which I stood with Blanche. True, he had heard, in a dim sort of way, that I had won a good deal of money; but more probably he supposed me to be acting as secretary--or even as a kind of servant--to his inamorata.
It was now clear to me that Blanche and he were on the point of coming to terms; yet, true to my usual custom, I said nothing.
Blanche herself tied his tie, and Blanche herself pomaded him-- with the result that, in his frockcoat and white waistcoat, he looked quite comme il faut.
"Il est, pourtant, TRES comme il faut," Blanche remarked when she issued from his room, as though the idea that he was "TRES comme il faut " had impressed even her.
At length the time had come for us to part, and Blanche, the egregious Blanche, shed real tears as she took her leave of me.
Gambler
Maggie delivered some classic oneliners in her 35 years as Blanche, some of which we list, right.
BLANCHE HAS THE LAST LAUGH; Maggie had key Christmas plot lined up
Now available for the first time on CD, A Streetcar Named Desire is the full-cast archival recording of the famous musical by Tennessee Williams, as performed by the cast at the 1973 revival at Lincoln Center (including Pulitzer Prize-winning stars Rosemary Harris and James Farentino as Blanche and Stanley).
A Streetcar Named Desire
We meet Blanche as a fading, fluttery but still glamorous Southern belle, all dressed up in white and searching for her kid sister Stella's declasse apartment in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
What does it take to keep 'Streetcar' on track? Sheila Daniels faces down the play's challenges in a volatile debut at Intiman
It gave me carte blanche. I felt like a guinea pig, really.
Working boy: Premier New York City sex columnist Grant Stoddard explored America's sexual underworld and lived to tell about it
McDonnell tells her fictional story using three French characters: Etienne, Abel (a Jew), and Blanche (a Cathar, or heretic).
McDonnell, Kathleen. 1212; year of the journey
I said sure, so Blanche and Bob came around with his new Corvette C5.
Bless the beasts and the BMWs: with the Catholic practice of blessing, nothing is too ordinary to be called holy
For one, Blanche Richardson, an extraordinary writer and editor--as natural and skilled an editor as Michael Jordan is a basketball player--had so much to share with the eager retreat participants that one evening at my third announcement to her editing workshop that it was time for dinner, I found Blanche lecturing away in the fading last light of first dark and the participants all scribbling away on pads they could barely see.
A dream of an island: on Sapelo Island, an idea takes form as a haven for the artists of the word
THE STORY OF BLANCHE WITTMAN AND MARIE CURIE is a gift from a literate god.
Per Olov Enquist. Boken om Blanche och Marie
But in practice, the alchemy of Armagnac is a blending of Gascogny grapes: Folle Blanche, Ugni Blanche, Colombard, and Baco 22A, followed by a patented, single distillation and aging (most likely invented by the Moors).
The perfect sip: John D. Gregory enjoys an Armagnac moment