dice

DYS/daɪs/

Pluraldice, dices

Verbdices, dicing, diced

6 meanings of dice

1
rolled cubesnoun
Plural of die: small objects with marked sides, usually cubes, that you roll in games.
Roll the dice and count the dots on top.
He shook the two dice in his cupped hands.
UsageSay the dice are. One is a die, but many people say a dice.
2
chop smallverbtransitive
To cut food into small square pieces.
Like cutting a block of cheese into tiny squares.
Dice the onion before you add it to the pan.
She diced the carrots for the soup.
UsageDice means cut into small cubes; chop is less neat.
Similarcube, chop
Note
3
food bitsnoununcountable
Food that has been cut into small cubes.
Like the little cubes of cheese in a snack pack.
Chop the onion into a fine dice.
The chef cut the potatoes into a neat, even dice.
UsageSay a fine dice or a small dice.
Similarcubes
Note
4
gambling gamenoununcountable
Games that you play by rolling small numbered cubes.
Like how playing games with cards is just called 'cards.'
They played dice late into the night.
He lost all his money at dice.
UsageSay play dice.
Note

Less common meanings

5
gambleverbintransitive
To play gambling games by rolling small numbered cubes.
Like betting money on a coin toss, but with cubes.
The men diced by the fire all evening.
Nobody was allowed to dice for money in the barracks.
UsageSay dice for money. Dice with death means do something very risky.
Similargamble
Note
6
decorate with squaresverbtransitive
To decorate something with a pattern of squares or diamonds.
Like drawing a grid of squares across a surface.
The binder diced the leather with a pattern of tiny squares.
Old binders liked to dice book covers with tiny diamonds.
Similarchecker

dice is a form of die

die, noun: A small object, usually a cube, with dots or numbers on its sides, thrown in games. Full entry

Forms: diedies pluraldice plural
Spelling: die → dice: irregular plural (no -s)

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English dys, the plural of dy (see die). The 's' sound probably stayed because the word felt like a group word, not a plural.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

Dice comes from Middle English dys, the plural of dy. en.wiktionary.org
The voiceless 's' sound was retained. en.wiktionary.org