gamble

verb gam·ble \ ˈgam-bəl \

Updated on: 26 Apr 2018

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

Biologists are gambling the river will see at least 75,000 adults at Bonneville (166,700 is forecast), which would cover the 5,400 caught so far.

— bill monroe, OregonLive.com, "Spring salmon anglers get one more day this weekend below Bonneville," 11 Apr. 2018
Thanks to a radical gaming expansion set to ease the state’s budget, online gaming, mini-casinos, online lotteries, and opportunities to gamble at airports and truck stops are slowly but surely cropping up.

— aubrey nagle, Philly.com, "Pa. towns gamble on gambling, Villanova heads to championship, Cosby retrial set to begin | Morning Newsletter," 2 Apr. 2018
The men, who were carrying a cooler to disguise their catch as a picnic, were gambling on finding undisturbed abalone beds in a highly visible area.

— kimon de greef, New York Times, "Divers Risk Drowning and Sharks to Poach Abalone Worth $200 a Pound," 31 Mar. 2018
Over $10 billion was gambled on last year’s tournament, according to the site.

— al saracevic, San Francisco Chronicle, "Why March Madness makes everyone a basketball expert," 16 Mar. 2018
And with the second season, Glover has gambled on one of the riskiest propositions an auteur can: shrinking the expanse of his show and turning the camera to the prejudices and motivations of its audience.

— jason parham, WIRED, "How Atlanta, the Most Innovative Show on TV, Reinvented Itself Again," 15 Mar. 2018
Portis, who played for the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos, was given $200,000 in credit in 2011 to gamble at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Rhode Island promotes David Cox to men’s basketball coach," 5 Apr. 2018
Luongo thwarted another chance by Bozak from the slot later in the period, but could do nothing when Matthews beat him five-hole on what turned into a 4-on-2 rush with the Panthers caught gambling at 9:24.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "Florida Panthers dominated in first period of 4-2 loss in Toronto," 28 Mar. 2018
Changes for racetrack gambling spaces A House committee has moved forward legislation that would change the restrictions on gambling space at racetracks from 15,000 square feet to 1,632 gambling seats.

— julia o'donoghue, NOLA.com, "Louisiana Legislature quickly moving gambling changes sought by industry," 26 Mar. 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

Adding to the drama was the fact that at halftime Saban had made a tough call to bench the quarterback who led the team to the title game, Jalen Hurts, in favor of Tagovailoa—a calculated gamble that worked.

— brian o'keefe, Fortune, "How Nick Saban Keeps Alabama Football Rolling," 23 Apr. 2018
Wathan pondered another gamble in the 11th when Knapp skied a fly ball to right that hit the metal fence above the padded wall.

— matt breen, Philly.com, "Phillies sweep Pirates on Aaron Altherr's walk-off single in 11th inning," 22 Apr. 2018
The money appeared to be for another gamble — one that actually paid off.

— NBC News, "Fugitive grandmother: Officials express 'relief' after Lois Ann Riess caught," 20 Apr. 2018
Theresa May, stung by a disastrous election gamble, is trying to work out how to pull off Brexit without damaging the economy.

— Bloomberg.com, "Queen Drafted to Charm Ex-Colonies Into Post-Brexit Free Trade," 19 Apr. 2018
Each year on the first Monday in May, stars flock to the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of the Costume Institute’s latest exhibit—and, along the way, take a few highly memorable beauty gambles.

— calin van paris, Vogue, "At the Met Gala, 16 Beauty Risk-Takers Who Ruled the Red Carpet," 17 Apr. 2018
Now buzz continues to build that Cleveland is make a considerable gamble on the quarterback who might have the highest upside of any thrower.

— michael middlehurst-schwartz, USA TODAY, "NFL mock draft 2018: Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield could be biggest QB dominoes," 16 Apr. 2018
But programs that take students who already have a college degree, like the one in San Francisco, and those that don’t require the state to make a financial gamble, could be better positioned to succeed.

— shaina cavazo, Indianapolis Star, "Teacher shortage? This Indianapolis school district is growing its own," 14 Apr. 2018
Kubrick has been mythologized as the ultimate control freak, and the obsessiveness of his concentration is self-evident, but Mr. Benson emphasizes his capacity to improvise, to respond creatively to other people’s hints, and to make large gambles.

— geoffrey o’brien, WSJ, "‘Space Odyssey’ and ‘Stanley Kubrick’ Review: Like Nothing Else on Earth," 12 Apr. 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