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

All you’ll need are two medium acorn squashes, cooked quinoa or wild rice, fresh or dried cranberries, chopped pecans or walnuts, diced onions, garlic, cinnamon, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper.

From Salon

"Currently they are not showing it, and this is people's lives we are rolling the dice on... And having a daughter, I really fear for young girls' and women's futures."

From BBC

Do they want to make sure they have the shirt next week or do they want to roll the dice knowing they could pop up, spin around someone and score two tries like Kolbe.

From BBC

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

From BBC

Last Thursday, Taylor Farms issued a recall for whole and diced onions over possible E. coli contamination, food service distributor US Foods announced.

From Salon

What Is The Plural Of Dice?

Plural word for dice

Dice is the plural form of the singular noun die, referring to a small cube of plastic, ivory, or other material, marked on each side with one to six spots. The more standard English plural form dies is used for other senses of the word die but not for the small cube. 

Dice derives directly from this irregular noun’s original pluralization in Middle English. 

Dice is sometimes treated as both a singular and plural form of die. The singular die is less commonly used.