Word of the Day

: July 17, 2016

parlay

verb PAHR-lay

What It Means

1 : to bet in a parlay

2 a : to exploit successfully

b : to increase or otherwise transform into something of much greater value

parlay in Context

"Leong said she parlayed a measly $5 winning ticket into her big bonanza. First she exchanged the $5 winning ticket for another that won $10, and with that she bought a $10 ticket that won $100. She decided to try her luck two more times and used the winnings to buy two $20 tickets, one of which hit the mother lode." — Megan Cerullo & Nancy Dillon, The New York Daily News, 8 June 2016

"Johnson parlayed the experience she gained while writing her own fashion and lifestyle blog into her first job at New York social media marketing agency Attention." — Samantha Masunaga, The Waterbury (Connecticut) Republican-American, 13 June 2016

Did You Know?

If you're the gambling type, you may already know that parlay can also be used as a noun describing a series of bets in which a person places a bet, then puts the original stake of money and all of its winnings on new wagers. But you might not know that parlay represents a modified spelling of the French name for such bets: paroli. You might also be unaware that the original French word is still occasionally used in English with the same meaning as the noun parlay. Be careful not to mix up parlay with the similar word parley, meaning "to discuss terms with an enemy." Although the spellings are very close, parley comes from the Latin word for "speech."