martingale

[ mahr-tn-geyl ]

noun

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.
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.

Nautical. a stay for a jib boom or spike bowsprit.
a system of gambling in which the stakes are doubled or otherwise raised after each loss.

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

Words Nearby martingale

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use martingale in a sentence

This strategy is similar to the martingale, but players don’t double the bet amount.
The Best Bitcoin Dice Gambling Sites (2021 Reviews & Buyer’s Guide) | Special to the Washington Blade | August 25, 2021 | Washington Blade
"Spikes your excellent father left sticking out of his martingale," he said, a sort of boyish resentment in his tones.
Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
It comes with the onset of a "bergy-bit" which smashes the martingale as it plunges into a deep trough.
The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson
martingale: A short spar under the bowsprit, used to give more spread to the stays that set the bowsprit or jib-boom down.
The Sportswoman's Library, v. 2 | Various
That devil of a chevalier has found an infallible martingale, he says; but it requires funds to start it.
Brother Jacques (Novels of Paul de Kock, Volume XVII) | Charles Paul de Kock

She'd swung herself up into the martingale, an' there she'd squatted all the afternoon until we was out o' sight o' land.
Captain Scraggs | Peter B. Kyne

British Dictionary definitions for martingale

martingale

/ (ˈmɑːtɪnˌɡeɪl) /

noun

a strap from the reins to the girth of a horse preventing it from carrying its head too high
any gambling system in which the stakes are raised, usually doubled, after each loss

Also called: martingale boom nautical
- a chain or cable running from a jib boom to the dolphin striker, serving to counteract strain
- another term for dolphin striker

Origin of martingale

C16: from French, of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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