to play roulette
3
6.0
- phrasal verb
:
jugar a la ruleta
- Many people enjoy the thrill of playing roulette at the gambling table.
So when I got arrested for that, I said to myself, I have got to fucking stop playing roulette.
- So when I got arrested for that, I said to myself, I have got to fucking stop playing roulette.
- Let's pretend for a moment that we're playing roulette and the only choice you have is you can either bet on black or red.
Examples
-
"Mom liked to play roulette too."
Fiction book (1994) -
Until then, Stander had been behaving rationally, but at the casino, he went off and gambled on his own while the three others played roulette.
Blog text (30) -
Do you ever play roulette?
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Can I watch you play roulette?
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- Did you ever play roulette?
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Let's pretend for a moment that we're playing roulette and the only choice you have is you can either bet on black or red.
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And we'll play roulette and dice and faro, and all those wonderful games.
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Dick played roulette.
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Let's go to the casino to play roulette and see if we can win some money.
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During our vacation, we decided to play roulette at the hotel and had a great time.
Synonyms
568
1.5
To risk money on the result of an event
495
4.2
Risk money by betting to try to win more
96
3.7
To risk money guessing which result will happen
20
4.4
To risk money on the result of a game or event
Antonyms
How Risky
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: a learner who knows 'play' (to take part in a game) and 'roulette' (a betting game) can infer that 'play roulette' means to participate in or gamble on the game of roulette. This follows a common cross-linguistic pattern of verb + game noun, so the meaning is immediately derivable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Play roulette comes from the casino game with a small spinning wheel called a roulette, and the verb play simply means to take part. So, when people play roulette, they are 'betting money' on where the ball will stop, which is why the phrase means 'to gamble'.