chuck-a-luck

American

[chuhk-uh-luhk] / ˈtʃʌk əˌlʌk /

Also chuck-luck

noun

a game played with three dice at which the players bet that a certain number will come up on one die, that the three dice will total a certain number, or that the total will be an odd number, even number, a high number, or a low number.

Etymology

Origin of chuck-a-luck

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

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.

See Examples For:

chuck-a-luck

New York, for example, had 6,000 gambling houses in the 1850s, where visitors could try their luck at games such as faro, chuck-a-luck, loo, all-fours, hearts, euchre, Boston, and whist.

From Slate ● May 26, 2022

Carpetbaggers and copper barons rubbed elbows on verandas of the cavernous Grand Union and United States hotels; Eastern empire builders frittered away fortunes at chuck-a-luck and roulette.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of the all-night gamblers at Las Vegas' Golden Nugget heard the same rumble, over the click of chuck-a-luck cages, and looked up.

From Time Magazine Archive

She was demasted, equipped with a 400-foot saloon on her main deck containing roulette wheels, crap boards, tables for chemin de fer, chuck-a-luck, anything else a gambler's heart might crave.

From Time Magazine Archive

The spiel that goes with chuck-a-luck can be very persuasive.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023