casino
Americannoun
plural
casinos-
a building or large room used for meetings, entertainment, dancing, etc., especially such a place equipped with gambling devices, gambling tables, etc.
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(in Italy) a small country house or lodge.
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Cards. Also cassino a game in which cards that are face up on the table are taken with eligible cards in the hand.
noun
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a public building or room in which gaming takes place, esp roulette and card games such as baccarat and chemin de fer
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a variant spelling of cassino
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of casino
1780–90; < Italian, equivalent to cas(a) “house” + -ino diminutive suffix
Explanation
A casino is a building where people can gamble and play games of chance. Your grandmother might enjoy taking weekend bus trips to the nearest casino with her friends. Many casinos are near — or inside — hotels, and include opportunities to dine, drink, and shop. The main event at a casino, however, is the chance to gamble either by betting money on games like blackjack or poker, or by putting coins in a slot machine. Casino is also the name of a card game. The word comes from the Italian casa, or "house." In the 1800s casino came to mean "building for aristocratic gambling."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Neither has Kok An, the senator, and the owner of the Crown Casino in Chrey Thom, who is wanted in Thailand.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
It's in the so-called Golden Square - in the vicinity of the Monte Carlo Casino, the wealthy micro-state's biggest draw, where rows of neon Lamborghinis are parked outside.
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026
“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026
At Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens, losing blackjack would result in the loss of a “double-digit portion” of the business, said Keith Sharp, an attorney representing Gardens Casino.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
A chart pad on an easel announces the Casino Night later tonight and an apple-pie tasting tomorrow.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
