Roulette

Quick meaning: Roulette is a noun meaning (countable) A small toothed wheel used by engravers to roll over a plate in order to produce rows of dots.

Meaning

(countable) A small toothed wheel used by engravers to roll over a plate in order to produce rows of dots.

More Meanings

1. (countable) A similar wheel used to roughen the surface of a plate, as in making alterations in a mezzotint.
2. (countable, geometry) The locus of a point on a plane curve that rolls without slipping along another fixed plane curve.
3. (philately) Any of the small incisions on a sheet of stamps, used as an alternative to perforations.
4. A cylindrical curler for the hair.
5. To separate or decorate by incisions made with a small toothed wheel.
6. (uncountable, figuratively) An instance of risk-taking, especially when the downside exceeds the upside (contrary to the game of roulette where only the wager is lost).
7. (uncountable) A game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered (usually red and black) spaces. When the ball stops, it indicates the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game.

Example Sentences

to roulette a sheet of postage stamps

They would all rather take their chances with the existing policy-making roulette rather than follow process discipline.

By contrast giving treatments open-label slows everything down by leading us up blind alleys while playing roulette with our patients' lives.

Doctors and health officials said that the WRC-TV documentary, "DPT: Vaccine Roulette," emphasized the risks of the vaccine while ignoring the dangers of the disease, which has been almost wiped out in this country.

Word Forms

• roulettes
• rouletting
• rouletted

Synonyms for roulette

Depending on context, synonyms include roly-poly.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include wheel, rondo, coup, raffle, rollerball, lotto.

Related Dictionary Tools