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

In his telling, he was tricked into working as a cleaner for Hanson, who bankrolled his gambling through a staking agreement, in which a backer funds the bets and takes a cut of any profits. —Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 2 Apr. 2026

In this way, the league frames its gambling partnerships as protective – even as new scandals emerge. —Michael Delayo, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2026

This couldn’t have come at a worse time for Kalshi and Polymarket, which are facing a growing number of lawsuits demanding that prediction markets be regulated like gambling. —Nic Puckrin, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2026

But gambling requires you to believe that some things in nature are truly unpredictable. —Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1700, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gambling

• anti-gambling

Rhymes for gambling

• ambling
• scrambling
• shambling