dice

[ dahys ]

plural noun

, singular die.

1. small cubes of plastic, ivory, bone, or wood, marked on each side with one to six spots, usually used in pairs in games of chance or in gambling.
2. poker dice.
3. any of various games, especially gambling games, played by shaking and throwing from two to six dice or poker dice onto a flat surface. Compare craps.
4. any small cubes.
5. Auto Racing. a jockeying for lead position between two or more drivers in which tactics are used to pass or keep from being passed.

verb (used with object)

diceddicing

1. to cut into small cubes.
2. to decorate with cubelike figures.
3. to lose by gambling with dice (often followed by away ).

verb (used without object)

diceddicing

1. to play at dice.
2. to cause or bring about by gambling with dice.
3. Auto Racing. to duel with another car or cars in a dice.

dice

/ daɪs /

plural noun

1. cubes of wood, plastic, etc, each of whose sides has a different number of spots (1 to 6), used in games of chance and in gambling to give random numbers
2. Also calleddie functioning as singular one of these cubes
3. small cubes as of vegetables, chopped meat, etc
4. no dice slang.
   an expression of refusal or rejection

verb

1. to cut (food, etc) into small cubes
2. intr to gamble with or play at a game involving dice
3. intr to take a chance or risk (esp in the phrase dice with death )
4. informal.
   tr to abandon or reject
5. tr to decorate or mark with dicelike shapes

Derived Forms

• ˈdicer, noun

Other Words From

• dicer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dice¹

1300–50; Middle English dees, dis, dyce (singular and plural), dyces (plural) < Old French de(i)z, dés (plural); die ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of dice¹

C14: plural of die ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. no dice, Informal. of no use or help; ineffective.

More idioms and phrases containing dice

see load the dice ; no deal (dice) .

Example Sentences

It was a bit of a roll of the dice, but everyone was really excited about it.

From BBC

Comedians have been trending rightward since right-wing talk radio and Andrew Dice Clay ascended contemporaneously in the late ‘80s and ‘90s.

From Salon

Knowing a mental breakdown when I hear it over the phone, I searched the garage website twice over the next couple of hours myself — no dice — then reached out to someone who knows much more about these matters than I do.

From Los Angeles Times

The BBC has contacted promoters Dice for comment.

From BBC

England's interim manager Lee Carsley gambled with his team selection - and potentially his future - when he rolled the dice against Greece at Wembley.

From BBC