gambling

noun

gam·​bling ˈgam-b(ə-)liŋ 

: the practice or activity of betting : the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet

illegal gambling

compulsive gambling

Then, within the past 18 months, after the explosion in Internet gambling … and the cable TV debut of the World Poker Tour, the game took off again.

—Walter Kirn

—often used before another noun

a gambling game

gambling regulations

a gambling empire

Examples of gambling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lansky left Havana, site of one of his gambling operations, during the Fidel Castro takeover in 1959. —Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2025

Maryland can take this even further, using online gaming revenues to fund problem gambling education and treatment programs — something that offshore, unregulated sites will never do. —Jeff Ifrah, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2025

Experts say many people don't clearly understand what a gambling problem looks like and how to address it. —Brittney Melton, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025

Terry finds himself in some serious gambling debt and accepts an offer from an old friend (Saffron Burrows) to hire a crew and rob a bank, which involves a lot of drilling and digging from an adjacent store on the same block. —Mike Ryan, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1700, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gambling

• anti-gambling

Rhymes for gambling

• ambling
• scrambling
• shambling