martingale
Americannoun
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Also called standing martingale. part of the tack or harness of a horse, consisting of a strap that fastens to the girth, passes between the forelegs and through a loop in the neckstrap or hame, and fastens to the noseband: used to steady or hold down the horse's head.
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Also called running martingale. a similar device that divides at the chest into two branches, each ending in a ring through which the reins pass.
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Nautical. a stay for a jib boom or spike bowsprit.
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a system of gambling in which the stakes are doubled or otherwise raised after each loss.
noun
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a strap from the reins to the girth of a horse preventing it from carrying its head too high
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any gambling system in which the stakes are raised, usually doubled, after each loss
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Also called: martingale boom. nautical
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a chain or cable running from a jib boom to the dolphin striker, serving to counteract strain
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another term for dolphin striker
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Etymology
Origin of martingale
1580–90; < Middle French: kind of hose fastened at the back, allegedly < Provençal martegalo, feminine of martegal, inhabitant of Martigue, town in SE France, though sense apparently influenced by Spanish almártaga harness < Arabic al-martaʿah the vein
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.
"Martingales for Physicists" helped pave the way to successful applications of such a martingale approach in thermodynamics.
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2024
Finitude breaks the martingale in another way, too.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 10, 2023
Second, when I barked out instructions — “Don’t step on the girth!” and “Do you see the martingale anywhere?” — he looked at me as if I had just ordered breakfast in Japanese.
From New York Times ● Jul. 31, 2020
“What could this talented YouTuber offer? Surely she didn’t know what a martingale back is to a Balenciaga one-seamed coat,” Talley writes.
From The Guardian ● May 23, 2020
Being secured to the breastplate by a standing martingale, it requires no reins.
From Ladies on Horseback Learning, Park-Riding, and Hunting, with Hints upon Costume, and Numerous Anecdotes by Nannie Lambert
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.
