gambler
gamblers
A gambler is a person who takes a lot of high-risk chances. Your friends might call you a gambler if you spend your free time bungee jumping and playing high-stakes poker.
When you seek adventure or danger, you're gambling with your safety or even your life, which makes you one kind of gambler. Other gamblers enjoy betting money on sports, card games, or games of chance. Gambler came after gamble, "risk something of value on a game of chance," from the Middle English gammlen, "play or be merry," with its Old English root gamen, or "game."
Definitions of gambler
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someone who risks loss or injury in the hope of gain or excitement
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synonyms:
risk taker
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type of:
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adventurer, venturer
a person who enjoys taking risks
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adventurer, venturer
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a person who wagers money on the outcome of games or sporting events
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types:
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ex-gambler
a former gambler
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better, bettor, punter, wagerer
someone who bets
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bookie, bookmaker
a gambler who accepts and pays off bets (especially on horse races)
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crapshooter
a gambler who plays the game of craps
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croupier
someone who collects and pays bets at a gaming table
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high roller
a gambler who wagers large sums
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loser
a gambler who loses a bet
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handicapper, odds-maker
someone who sets the betting odds based on calculations of the outcome of a contest (especially a horse race)
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crap-shooter, shooter
a gambler who throws dice in the game of craps
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plunger, speculator
someone who risks losses for the possibility of considerable gains
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sporting man
someone who leads a merry existence; especially a gambler on the outcome of sporting events
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winner
a gambler who wins a bet
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lottery winner, prize winner
the winner of a lottery
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taker
one who takes a bet or wager
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caller
the bettor in a card game who matches the bet and calls for a show of hands
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Edwardian
someone belonging to (or as if belonging to) the era of Edward VII
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hedger
someone who counterbalances one transaction (as a bet) against another in order to protect against loss
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operator
a speculator who trades aggressively on stock or commodity markets
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scalper
someone who buys something and resells it at a price far above the initial cost
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venture capitalist
a speculator who makes money available for innovative projects (especially in high technology)
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘gambler'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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