roulette

American  

[roo-let] / ruˈlɛt /

noun

1. a game of chance played at a table marked off with numbers from 1 to 36, one or two zeros, and several other sections affording the players a variety of betting opportunities, and having in the center a revolving, dishlike device roulettewheel into which a small ball is spun to come to rest finally in one of the 37 or 38 compartments, indicating the winning number and its characteristics, as odd or even, red or black, and between 1 and 18 or 19 and 36.

2. a small wheel, especially one with sharp teeth, mounted in a handle, for making lines of marks, dots, or perforations.

   engravers' roulettes; a roulette for perforating sheets of postage stamps.

3. Philately. a row of short cuts, in which no paper is removed, made between individual stamps to permit their ready separation.

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verb (used with object)

roulettes, present (3rd person singular) rouletted, past participle, past rouletting present participle

1. to mark, impress, or perforate with a roulette.

roulette British  

/ ruːˈlɛt /

noun

1. a gambling game in which a ball is dropped onto a spinning horizontal wheel divided into 37 or 38 coloured and numbered slots, with players betting on the slot into which the ball will fall

2. 1. a toothed wheel for making a line of perforations

   2. a tiny slit made by such a wheel on a sheet of stamps as an aid to tearing it apart

3. a curve generated by a point on one curve rolling on another

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verb

1. to use a roulette on (something), as in engraving, making stationery, etc

Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has rouletted
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have rouletted
  perfect
• has been rouletting
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am rouletting
  progressive 1st person singular
• is rouletting
  progressive 3rd person singular
• have been rouletting
  perfect progressive
• roulettes
  singular 3rd person
• are rouletting
  progressive
• rouletting
  participle

Past

• had rouletted
  perfect
• was rouletting
  progressive singular
• were rouletting
  progressive plural
• had been rouletting
  perfect progressive
• rouletted
  participle
• rouletted
  simple

Future

• will roulette
  simple
• will have rouletted
  perfect
• will be rouletting
  progressive
• will have been rouletting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of roulette

1725–35; < French, diminutive of rouelle wheel. See rowel

Explanation

Roulette is a gambling game, where a little ball rolls around a wheel and people bet on what number it will land on. Go lucky 7! Outside a casino, roulette can refer to an unnecessarily dangerous gamble. It doesn't take any skill — just a whole lot of luck — to win at roulette. The wheel itself is called a roulette wheel. The game was invented in eighteenth century France, and you can still play it in casinos all over the world (though you have to be over 21 to enter those casinos). Russian roulette is a game of chance where people basically bet their lives. In French, roulette means "small wheel," from the Latin root rota, "wheel."

Example Sentences

“The headline roulette is reaching the point where it is becoming exhausting for oil traders,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026

Minimum bets at blackjack and roulette tables inched up.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

"Even if a convoy is 90% effective, which ship owners and crew unions are prepared to play Russian roulette in one of them?" said Clarke.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

"For governments to allow private entities to essentially play Russian roulette with every human being on earth is, in my view, a total dereliction of duty," said Russell, a prominent voice on AI safety.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026

My mind whizzes through dozens of looks like the spinning of a roulette wheel.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

• poker