gambling

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

Examples of gambling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Heat received this second-round selection from the Hornets to resolve a dispute over Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 24 June 2026

Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 23 June 2026

Ferazani’s letter makes clear the NFL has not reached any sort of finding on Sorsby’s gambling issues and that he is not being punished in any way. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 23 June 2026

Odds and gambling platforms do not use methodologies used by traditional political polling, and therefore are not substitutes for political polls. — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 23 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1700, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gambling

• anti-gambling

Rhymes for gambling

• ambling
• scrambling
• shambling