plural bookies
informal
: a person who determines gambling odds and receives and pays off bets : bookmaker
The "line"—the Vikings over the Giants by four points, for example—establishes the point spread that the bookie believes will attract gamblers in equal numbers to each side of the bet.—
Jack El-Hai
Jack El-HaiFunnily enough, I was never anxious to win one of these bets. I didn't want to collect from the bookie on any of them.—Art Buchwald
Art BuchwaldExamples of bookie in a Sentence
Their bookie is giving good odds.
Recent Examples on the Web
Legend has it that when an unsuspecting new man on the paper’s composing desk left out the agate type one day there were lots of problems for bettors and bookies across the city.
—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 June 2026
Soon, Pughsley and his crew had dozens of bookies reporting to them and thousands of people betting with them.
—
Keith O’Brien,
New Yorker,
25 June 2026
Wolfers, who previously worked for professional bookies in his native Australia, seems to be the most expressly worried about prediction markets facilitating sports betting.
—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
Two decades later, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Baltimore Colts quarterback Art Schlichter—who was physically threatened for failing to pay his bookies and sought FBI protection—for betting on games during the 1982 season.
—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
16 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for bookie
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New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 June 2026
Soon, Pughsley and his crew had dozens of bookies reporting to them and thousands of people betting with them.
—
Keith O’Brien,
New Yorker,
25 June 2026
Wolfers, who previously worked for professional bookies in his native Australia, seems to be the most expressly worried about prediction markets facilitating sports betting.
—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
Two decades later, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Baltimore Colts quarterback Art Schlichter—who was physically threatened for failing to pay his bookies and sought FBI protection—for betting on games during the 1982 season.
—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
16 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for bookie
Cite this Entry
“Bookie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bookie. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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