gambling

1 of 2

noun

gam·​bling ˈgam-b(ə-)liŋ 

: the practice or activity of betting : the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet

illegal gambling

compulsive gambling

Then, within the past 18 months, after the explosion in Internet gambling … and the cable TV debut of the World Poker Tour, the game took off again.

—Walter Kirn

—often used before another noun

a gambling game

gambling regulations

a gambling empire

gambling

2 of 2

present participle of gamble entry 1

Examples of gambling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Their break came in 1930, when a ledger seized in a gambling hall raid was found to mention someone named Al. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Oct. 2026

In the meantime, law enforcement, regulators and sports leagues have struggled to keep up with gambling's growing popularity in collegiate and professional sports alike. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026

No longer confined to gambling dens and brothel districts, yakuza muscled their way into other businesses, some legal, some not. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

In a world full of gaslighters who cry foul over a gambling commercial, be more like Charley Hull and Sydney Sweeney. — Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1700, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gambling

• anti-gambling

Rhymes for gambling

• ambling
• scrambling
• shambling