gambling

1. 1
   noununcountable

   An activity that mixes skill and chance, balanced between winning and losing, usually with money wagered on the outcome.

   Gambling has been part of many cultures for thousands of years.

   The new law tightened the rules around online gambling.

   Similarbetting, wagering, gaming

   Note

   In ordinary use it is a mass noun: one speaks of gambling, not a gambling. It readily takes a word for its setting, as in online gambling or gambling at casinos. The plural gamblings exists for the occasional count use, but it is the exception. Built simply from gamble plus -ing, the word names the whole pursuit, while a single bet is a gamble.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of gamble.

   They were gambling on the horses all afternoon at the track.

   He is gambling his entire savings on a single risky bet.

   Note

   The -ing form does double duty. After be it builds the progressive, and as a gerund it fills a noun slot while still taking a verb's object (gambling his savings). Gambling on something names what the bet rides on, and gambling something names the stake itself. That object is the test that separates the gerund from the noun for the activity, which never takes one.

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