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roulette

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered spaces.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rooleht

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɹuˈlɛt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. 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.

  2. uncountablefiguratively

    An instance of risk-taking, especially when the downside exceeds the upside (contrary to the game of roulette where only the wager is lost).

  3. countable

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

  4. countable

    A similar wheel used to roughen the surface of a plate, as in making alterations in a mezzotint.

  5. A wheel with teeth for making a row of perforations

  6. A cylindrical curler for the hair.

verb

  1. To separate or decorate by incisions made with a small toothed wheel.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

More ways to use roulette

  • “The casino offered a game of roulette for entertainment.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Game / gambling

roulette ballroulette gameplayed rouletteroulette player

Small / similar

roulette table

Other combinations

roulette wheelamerican roulettelike roulette

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • roulette ballnounCompound term

    The ball used to play roulette.

  • roulette wheelnounCompound term

    Game equipment consisting of a wheel with slots that is used for gambling.

  • line roulettenounCompound term

    A line generated by a point on one figure rolling around a second figure.

  • russian roulettenounCompound term

    A stunt in which you spin the cylinder of a revolver that is loaded with only one bullet and then point the muzzle at your head and pull the trigger.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.