gamble

verb gam·ble \ ˈgam-bəl \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: gamble in a Sentence

Definition of gamble

gambled; gambling play \ˈgam-b(ə-)liŋ\

intransitive verb

1 a : to play a game for money or property

b : to bet on an uncertain outcome

2 : to stake something on a contingency (see contingency 1) : take a chance

transitive verb

1 : to risk by gambling : wager

2 : venture, hazard

—

gambler

play \ˈgam-blər\ noun

See gamble defined for English-language learners

See gamble defined for kids

Examples of gamble in a Sentence

He's been drinking and gambling heavily.
He would often gamble hundreds of dollars on a hand of poker.
The mayor is gambling with the city's future.
people who lost money gambling in the stock market
The mayor is gambling that the new policies will help rather than hurt the city.

Recent Examples of gamble from the Web

His team gambled in Atlantic City, N.J., annually and sometimes hit New York nightclubs until early morning, spending thousands of dollars a person on food and drinks, said people who attended some such events.

— gregory zuckerman, WSJ, "‘This Is Unbelievable’: A Hedge Fund Star Dims, and Investors Flee," 4 July 2018
By going ahead with the spinoff, ABC executives are gambling that viewers will approve of the network’s decision to bring back the Conners and will display an interest in characters who once served as foils to the lead.

— john koblin, New York Times, "ABC Plans a ‘Roseanne’ Spinoff, Without Roseanne Barr," 21 June 2018
In addition to Dixon, three other drivers gambled to try to swipe a victory from the drivers who ran up front much of the day.

— dave kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Will Power takes charge in final laps to win the Indianapolis 500," 27 May 2018
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal law that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, giving states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports.

— steve rosenbloom, chicagotribune.com, "A big idea that could give Illinois sports gamblers the best price," 17 May 2018
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal law that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, giving states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports.

— staff report, courant.com, "All Of Your Sports Betting Questions Answered Following Supreme Court Decision," 15 May 2018
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal law that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, giving states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports.

— associated press, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Supreme Court ruling clears way for legalized sports betting," 14 May 2018
Regardless of the level of play, if people want to gamble, someone will offer to be the book, said Declan Hill, an expert on betting corruption.

— Philly.com, "Tennis match-fixing probe targets growing market for sports data," 30 Apr. 2018
As the Cards wanted to gamble for steals or run drivers into shot blockers, Xavier preferred keeping the ball in front of its defenders and defensive rebounding with physicality.

— jeff greer, The Courier-Journal, "With 4 scholarships open, here's what Louisville basketball needs on next season's roster," 10 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gamble.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of gamble

probably back-formation from gambler, perhaps alteration (by dissimilation, or substitution of the frequentative suffix -le) of early Modern English gamner "player in a game," from gamen "to play" (going back to Middle English gamenen, going back to Old English gamenian, derivative of gamen ¹game) + -er ²-er

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1757

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

gamble Synonyms

Synonyms

bet, go, lay, play, put, stake, wager;

Related Words

bid, offer;

adventure, chance, hazard, speculate, venture;

endanger, imperil, jeopardize;

gamble

noun

Definition of gamble

1 a : an act having an element of risk

b : something chancy

2 : the playing of a game of chance for stakes

See gamble defined for English-language learners

Examples of gamble in a Sentence

Starting her own business was a gamble, but it paid off.
She thought about starting her own business, but she decided it was too much of a gamble.

Recent Examples of gamble from the Web

That said, Isaiah at the minimum would have been more than worth the gamble by the Heat.

— ira winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "ASK IRA: Should Heat draw a (hard) line at draft assets?," 14 July 2018
The biggest gamble would be if Mr. Trump went beyond those three to choose Thomas Hardiman of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "A Justice With a Record," 8 July 2018
Still, the obvious upside makes him well worth a gamble on draft day.

— michael beller, SI.com, "Fantasy Football 2018 Sleepers: Why You Shouldn’t Overlook Eli Manning," 3 July 2018
By agreeing to a four-year contract, announced Sunday night, LeBron James took the biggest gamble of his career – and one not guaranteed to pay off even if the Lakers somehow manage to wrangle Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs.

— nancy armour, USA TODAY, "Lakers hope LeBron will help them reclaim spotlight of Showtime era," 2 July 2018
Duclair, 22, who will be with his fourth team, may be worth a gamble.

— sam carchidi, Philly.com, "Flyers enter NHL free agency with the cap space, here are the players they might be considering | Sam Carchidi," 29 June 2018
The political gamble is that the broad public appeal of dividends will overwhelm the power of interest groups, but that is almost entirely a matter of faith, not evidence.

— david roberts, Vox, "Big oil and Bush-era lobbyists are teaming up to support a carbon tax," 22 June 2018
At least some level of participation by that group -- which collectively applied enough pressure on Pyongyang to come to the negotiating table -- will be necessary if Trump's nuclear gamble is to succeed.

— jeremy diamond, jeff zeleny and kevin liptak, CNN, "Trump resets the world stage," 13 June 2018
There's just no recent precedent for the gamble Kim Jong Un is taking.

— Fox News, "Isolated Kim takes big gamble leaving home for Trump summit," 10 June 2018

Origin and Etymology of gamble

noun derivative of ¹gamble

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1823

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

gamble Synonyms

Other Game Terms

bezique, carom, convention, crap, euchre, gambit, monte, parlay, tierce

GAMBLE Defined for English Language Learners

gamble

verb

Definition of gamble for English Language Learners

: to play a game in which you can win or lose money or possessions : to bet money or other valuable things
: to risk losing (an amount of money) in a game or bet
: to risk losing (something valuable or important) in order to do or achieve something