gamble

gam|ble¹ [ˈgæmbəl] v [I and T]

[Date: 1700-1800; Origin: game]

1.) to risk money or possessions on the result of something such as a card game or a race, when you do not know for certain what the result will be

→↑bet

▪ Their religion forbids them to drink or gamble.

gamble on

▪ Jack loves gambling on the horses.

2.) to do something that involves a lot of risk, and that will not succeed unless things happen the way you would like them to

gamble on

▪ They're gambling on Johnson being fit for Saturday's game.

gamble sth on sth

▪ Potter gambled everything on his new play being a hit.

gamble that

▪ She was gambling that he wouldn't read it too carefully.

gamble with

▪ We can't relax our safety standards - we'd be gambling with people's lives.

>gambler n

▪ Stevens was a compulsive gambler .

gamble away [gamble sth<=>away] phr v

to lose the whole of an amount of money by gambling

▪ Nielsen gambled his inheritance away.

gamble ²

gamble² n [singular]

an action or plan that involves a risk but that you hope will succeed

▪ It was a big gamble for her to leave the band and go solo.

gamble on

▪ The gamble on the harvest had paid off (=succeeded) .

▪ Ellen had to admit the gamble had paid off (=succeeded) .

▪ In a depressed market, we cannot afford to take a gamble on a new product.