high-stakes game
4
5.5
- noun
:
juego de alto riesgo
- The two buddies then locate a weekly high-stakes game played by off-duty state cops.
McConnell and Schumer are in a staring contest that's also a high stakes game of chicken in that they both look like raw poultry.
- McConnell and Schumer are in a staring contest that's also a high stakes game of chicken in that they both look like raw poultry.
- So we are going to define a high stakes game that the lawyers are going to play on the side at the same time as the actual game that we are interested in.
Examples
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There were restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and a dozen immense public gambling rooms, as well as some very private rooms for high-stakes games, games that even King Tout couldn't afford.
Fiction book (1991) -
And certainly, an opportunity for a high-stakes game of chance is in order.
Blog text (17) -
We're just playing a super high-stakes game of hide and seek.
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It's not fair, but this is a high-stakes game of what have you done for me lately.
Blog text (16) -
"Those girls were playing a high-stakes game of poker, and they played their hands fabulously," he said.
Blog text (7) -
It was a high-stakes game, with large sums of money being spent on legal action and with significant earnings from license fees as a result of, and despite, that action.
Academic text (2016) -
The political arena is a high-stakes game, and many educators are inexperienced at developing and articulating an education policy that can operate on the same level as federal economic policy and foreign policy.
Academic text (1992) -
In the high-stakes game of politics, every decision can lead to significant consequences.
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The negotiation turned into a high-stakes game, as both sides risked losing their main objectives.
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Investors often participate in the high-stakes game of the stock market, where large sums of money are at stake.
Synonyms
9
4.4
An activity that could make you lose a lot of money or get hurt
A competition with very large risks or rewards
A situation that has big risks and serious results for the people involved, like a trial or business deal
How Risky
Surface Forms
Morphology
high-stakes + game
The meaning 'a situation with significant consequences or risks' is directly derivable from combining 'high' (large/important) with 'stakes' (risks or what is at stake), forming a standard adjective+noun composition. This is a transparent, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
High-stakes game comes from old betting, where stakes were the money or things people risked and a game with very large stakes meant you could lose or win a lot. So high-stakes game now means any situation where 'a lot is at risk' or the result will have big consequences.