gamble

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
But Webb said he felt certain the mayor had a chance to succeed at trial, but the gamble was a big one.

View all »
Definitions (20)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. intransitive verb To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
  2. intransitive verb To play a game of chance for stakes.
  3. intransitive verb To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
5 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The bill for U2's latest gamble is the $150 million it will cost to keep the band's 360° tour, which starts June 30 in Barcelona, on the road for 18 months. —  Thunderstruck
  • It was a gamble, as Clough had no previous management experience, but it was also the highest profile appointment in the club's history. —  Soccer Blogs - latest posts
  • The savings and loans that were spared had no reason not to gamble, and ended up losing a lot more of the taxpayers 'money. —  Floyd Norris
  • Football's least popular Bobby from King of the Hill lookalike has taken a massive gamble, and it's essentially one he's taken with his own money. —  TEAMtalk Football News
  • Well, your chance has arrived, as long as you're willing to take a slight gamble, that is. —  Megite Technology News: What's Happening Right Now
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 71 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

casino ·  gaming ·  poker ·  drunkenness ·  bet ·  prostitution ·  speculation ·  sport ·  theft ·  roulette ·  debauchery ·  investment

Used in the same contextWord Family

gamble:   gambling ·  gambles ·  gambled
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Perhaps from obsolete gamel, to play games, from Middle English gamen, gamenen, to play, from Old English gamenian, from gamen, fun.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Recent in record; from Middle English *gamelen, *gamlen (whence modern gamble, in form like famble, fumble, hamble, humble, etc.), variant (with freq. suffix -le) of gamenen, from Anglo-Saxon gamenian, game: see game, v., gammon, v.
  2. from gamble, v.
  3. Dim. of gamb, or variant of the related gambrel.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈgæmbl/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a week.

Recently looked up

ode · riotously · widget · anoxic · snuck

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

ultimatum · pew · deadpool · sad panda · nom nom nom