dice

[dahys]

plural noun

singular

die 

1. small cubes of plastic, ivory, bone, or wood, marked on each side with one to six spots, usually used in pairs in games of chance or in gambling.

2. poker dice.

3. any of various games, especially gambling games, played by shaking and throwing from two to six dice or poker dice onto a flat surface.

4. any small cubes.

5. Auto Racing.,  a jockeying for lead position between two or more drivers in which tactics are used to pass or keep from being passed.

verb (used with object)

diced , dicing .

1. to cut into small cubes.

2. to decorate with cubelike figures.

3. to lose by gambling with dice (often followed byaway ).

verb (used without object)

diced , dicing .

1. to play at dice.

2. to cause or bring about by gambling with dice.

3. Auto Racing.,  to duel with another car or cars in a dice.

dice

/ daɪs /

plural noun

1. cubes of wood, plastic, etc, each of whose sides has a different number of spots (1 to 6), used in games of chance and in gambling to give random numbers

2. Also called: die. (functioning as singular) one of these cubes

3. small cubes as of vegetables, chopped meat, etc

4. slang,  an expression of refusal or rejection

verb

1. to cut (food, etc) into small cubes

2. (intr) to gamble with or play at a game involving dice

3. (intr) to take a chance or risk (esp in the phrase dice with death )

4. informal,  (tr) to abandon or reject

5. (tr) to decorate or mark with dicelike shapes

Other Word Forms

• dicer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dice¹

1300–50; Middle English dees, dis, dyce (singular and plural), dyces (plural) < Old French de(i)z, dés (plural); die ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of dice¹

C14: plural of _die ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. no dice, of no use or help; ineffective.

see load the dice; no deal (dice).

Example Sentences

You can add other vegetables like diced peppers, onions or corn; for a creamy aspect, add some avocado, and toss together with fresh cilantro, lime and a simple vinaigrette.

From Salon

On the floor of the California Assembly--where conduct runs from informal to rowdy amid fourscore voices slicing and dicing in partisan disunity--volcanic John Burton fits right in.

From Los Angeles Times

But in throwing the strategy dice by running their cars as long as possible before a pit stop, and then deciding to stop them in the 'wrong' order, McLaren generated a problem for themselves.

From BBC

The trick was slicing and dicing Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County, the state’s most populous and densely packed, and scattering its voters among four predominantly Republican districts.

From Los Angeles Times

Knife skills, too, were given a linguistic beat: “Motion of the ocean” for rocking cuts, “slices, sticks, dices” to map the rhythm of the hand and blade.

From Salon

When To Use

Plural word for dice

Dice is the plural form of the singular noun die, referring to a small cube of plastic, ivory, or other material, marked on each side with one to six spots. The more standard English plural form dies is used for other senses of the word die but not for the small cube. Dice derives directly from this irregular noun’s original pluralization in Middle English. Dice is sometimes treated as both a singular and plural form of die. The singular die is less commonly used.