dice

1 of 2

noun

ˈdīs 

plural dice

1

a

: die sense 1

b

: a gambling game played with dice

2

plural also dices : a small cubical piece (as of food)

3

: a close contest between two racing-car drivers for position during a race

dice

2 of 2

verb

diced; dicing

transitive verb

1

a

: to cut into small cubes

diced onions

b

: to ornament with square markings

diced leather

2

a

: to bring by playing dice

dice himself into debt

b

: to lose by dicing

dice her money away

intransitive verb

1

: to play games with dice

dice for drinks in the bar

—Malcolm Lowry

2

: to take a chance

the temptation to dice with death

—Newsweek

dicer noun

Phrases

no dice

1

: of no avail : no use : futile

2

: no entry 1 sense 3

said no dice to my request

Synonyms

Noun

• bones
• die

Verb

• chop
• hash
• mince

Examples of dice in a Sentence

Noun

In this game, each player rolls the dice to see who plays first.

They were shooting dice in one of the bar's back rooms.

Verb

Dice the potatoes and add them to the soup.

quickly diced some peppers and onions and threw them into the stew

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Seattle is rolling the dice on a small-school prospect with its first-round pick, but spending its best asset on a position of need will likely earn him some goodwill among the fans. —Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025

Hunter and Oyelowo then shot the short in five days and went back to pitching it to streamers and film festivals via Zoom meetings during the pandemic, but still — no dice. —Adelle Platon, VIBE.com, 15 Apr. 2025

Verb

Pickled jalapeño chiles: Make sure to properly drain and finely dice your jalepeños so that they’re evenly distributed throughout the dip. —Catherine Jessee, Southern Living, 28 Apr. 2025

In a 6-2 defeat in Game 2, Michael Lorenzen diced up the Rockies for six innings. —Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English dyce, from dees, dyce, plural of dee die entry 2

Verb

Middle English dycen, from dyce dice entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing dice

• a roll of the dice
• loaded dice
• load the dice
• roll the dice
• slice and dice

Rhymes for dice

• feis
• gneiss
• grice
• ice
• lice
• mice
• slice
• spice
• splice
• thrice
• trice
• twice

Kids Definition

dice

1 of 2 noun

ˈdīs 

plural dice

1

: die entry 2 sense 1

2

: a gambling game played with dice

dice

2 of 2 verb

diced; dicing

1

: to cut into small cubes

diced carrots

2

: to play games with dice

dicer noun