gambling
Americannoun
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the activity or practice of playing at a game of chance for money or other stakes.
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the act or practice of risking the loss of something important by taking a chance or acting recklessly.
If you don't back up your data, that's gambling.
Etymology
Origin of gambling
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.
Now, instead of gambling on an outsider, they have turned once again to the safest of safe bets.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
While most U.S. professional sports leagues have embraced sports gambling, some have been more reluctant when it comes to prediction markets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
Options, meanwhile, are expected to be tradable by June 16, an event that should whip stock trading into a frenzy of gambling.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
A month away from its closure, onetime gambling oasis Primm, Nev., located along the state border with Southern California, has a new lease on life.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
Francie and Neeley had each been given a strip but Francie had been tempted by some shrewd boys into gambling her tickets in a marble game.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
