roulette

[ roo-let ]

/ ruˈlɛt /

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See synonyms for roulette on Thesaurus.com

noun

a game of chance played at a table marked off with numbers from 1 to 36, one or two zeros, and several other sections affording the players a variety of betting opportunities, and having in the center a revolving, dishlike device (roulette wheel ) into which a small ball is spun to come to rest finally in one of the 37 or 38 compartments, indicating the winning number and its characteristics, as odd or even, red or black, and between 1 and 18 or 19 and 36.

a small wheel, especially one with sharp teeth, mounted in a handle, for making lines of marks, dots, or perforations: engravers' roulettes; a roulette for perforating sheets of postage stamps.

Philately. a row of short cuts, in which no paper is removed, made between individual stamps to permit their ready separation.

verb (used with object), rou·let·ted, rou·let·ting.

to mark, impress, or perforate with a roulette.

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Origin of roulette

1725–35; <French, diminutive of rouelle wheel. See rowel

Words nearby roulette

roul., roulade, rouleau, rouleaux formation, Roulers, roulette, Roum., Roumania, Roumanian, Roumelia, round

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use roulette in a sentence

While you may not be as likely to knock this stand over, there’s no screen or edge protection so, if you drop it, you’re playing damage roulette.
The best iPad Pro cases to clothe your productivity partner|Tamara Palmer|November 8, 2021|Popular-Science
Let’s stop for a minute and think about our own days of playground roulette.
Yes, kids are playing Squid Game at recess. Now what?|Whit Honea|October 18, 2021|Washington Post
Without content moderators, a visit to social media platforms could be a game of roulette, in which bad luck could leave you traumatized.
‘I Sold My Soul.’ WhatsApp Content Moderators Review the Worst Material on the Internet. Now They're Alleging Pay Discrimination|Billy Perrigo|July 15, 2021|Time
Every winter is a bit of a roulette wheel when it comes to influenza.
What You Need to Know About COVID-19 and Flu|Alice Park|December 2, 2020|Time

It shows that the Malaysian airliner may well have fallen victim to a high-altitude game of Russian roulette.
MH17 Switched Places With Another Jet|Clive Irving|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“It is like Russian roulette to use these drugs,” he told WebMd in 2010.
When Synthetic Pot Kills|Abby Haglage|November 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
After finding Manning guilty of six counts of spying under the Espionage Act, however, America may be playing Russian roulette.
Questions Over Judge’s Rulings But Little Hope for Bradley Manning|Alexa O'Brien|July 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He also ran Roulette Records and golfed on occasion with Sammy Davis, Jr.
Jersey’s True-Life Tony Soprano: Meet the DeCavalcante Crime Family|Michael Daly|June 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For those patients, getting treated at Rose was like inadvertently playing a game of Russian roulette.
Doctor Accused of Infecting Patients With Hepatitis C Breaks Silence|Carol McKinley|February 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Because they used a heavier ball, roulette looked about the same as on Earth, and the same went for the dice games.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
I found him in the act of losing his last rouble at roulette, which did not prevent our spending a very pleasant day together.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky|Modeste Tchaikovsky
Nicholas Rubinstein lost all his money at roulette during the summer.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky|Modeste Tchaikovsky
Of course, at roulette, some number or zero itself is bound to come up every time, but number twenty-seven was invariably unlucky.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume III (of 3)|Charles James Wills
It was equally easy to raise money for a roulette wheel, a cathedral or an expedition to Africa.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine|John Fox, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for roulette

roulette

/ (ruːˈlɛt) /

noun

a gambling game in which a ball is dropped onto a spinning horizontal wheel divided into 37 or 38 coloured and numbered slots, with players betting on the slot into which the ball will fall

a toothed wheel for making a line of perforations
a tiny slit made by such a wheel on a sheet of stamps as an aid to tearing it apart

a curve generated by a point on one curve rolling on another

verb (tr)

to use a roulette on (something), as in engraving, making stationery, etc

Word Origin for roulette

C18: from French, from rouelle a little wheel, from roue a wheel, from Latin rota

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

roulette

Origin of roulette

Words nearby roulette

Words related to roulette

How to use roulette in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for roulette

Word Origin for roulette