die

From Middle English dee, from Old French de (Modern French dé), from Latin datum, from datus (“given”), the past participle of dō (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to lay out, to spread out”). Doublet of datum.
Replaced Old English tasul, tesul (“die”), from Latin tessella (“die, cube”).

der

The number of dies per wafer is basically the area of the wafer divided by the area of the die.

2002, John L. Hennessy, David A. Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 19:

Once the wafer has undergone the wafer-probe test, it is separated into individual dice by sawing or scribing and breaking. The dice are visually inspected, sorted, and readied for assembly into packages.

2009, Paul R. Gray, Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits, 5th edition, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 159:

(semiconductors, plural also dice) An oblong chip fractured from a semiconductor wafer engineered to perform as an independent device or integrated circuit.


crap

(gambling, dice games) A losing throw of 2, 3, or 12 in craps.


ace

→ Japanese: エース (ēsu)

→ Korean: 에이스 (eiseu)

→ Russian: эйс (ejs)

→ Swedish: ess

(?) → Finnish: ässä

Inherited from Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as, assis (“unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage”). Doublet of as. Likely related or deriving ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs, or otherwise taking from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”) in the sense of "singular".
Alternatively, it could be derived from Etruscan.

(dice games) A die face marked with a single dot, typically representing the number one.


midnight

en-noun

midnight (countable and uncountable, plural midnights)

[ˈmɪd̚ˌnɐɪt]

From Middle English midnight, from Old English midniht, from Proto-Germanic *midjanahts (“midnight”), equivalent to mid- + night. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Midnoacht (“midnight”), Old High German mittinaht (“midnight”), Danish midnat (“midnight”), Swedish midnatt (“midnight”), Icelandic miðnætti (“midnight”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Middernoacht (“midnight”), Dutch middernacht (“midnight”), German Mitternacht (“midnight”).

cog

(dice games) Synonym of boxcars (“a pair of sixes”)


deuce

From Middle English dewes (“two”), from Anglo-Norman, from Old French deus, from Latin duo. The word was used by Ford Motor Co. in 1932 to describe a two-seater car model.

(dice games) A side of a die with two spots.

(dice games) A cast of dice totalling two.


d

Abbreviations.
* (British penny; old penny): abbreviation of Latin denarii, the name of the corresponding Roman coin.
* (dice): abbreviation of dice
d
# Abbreviation of died or death.
#: William Shakespeare, d 1616
# (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of do and inflections doing, did, done and homophone due
#: exception: dz 'does'
# (Stenoscript) prefix dis- or des-

ng

or <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">death</i>.

d20 — a specialized die with twenty sides

2d6 — the sum of the roll of two six-sided dice


passage

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French passage, from passer (“to pass”).

(dice games, historical) A gambling game for two players using three dice, in which the object is to throw a double over ten.


quatre

Borrowed from French quatre. Doublet of cuatro and four.

Accordingly the firſt beſt throw upon the dice is eſteemed aces, as it ſtops the ſix point in the outer table, and ſecures the cinque in your own, whereby your adverſary's two men upon your ace point cannot get out with either quatre, cinq, or ſix.

1775, “a Connoisseur”, “Containing an Account of the Game of Back-gammon, with the most approved Method of playing at it, and the Rules of the Game. Together with the Artifices and Legerdemains that are frequently practised at it.”, in Annals of Gaming; or, The Fair Player’s Sure Guide. Containing Original Treatises on the following Games. […], London: […] G. Allen, […], pages 181–182:

The firſt beſt Throw upon the Dice is eſteemed Aces, as it ſtops the Six-Point in the outer Table, and ſecures the Cinque in your own, whereby your Adverſary’s two Men upon your Ace-Point cannot get out with either Quatre, Cinque, or Six.

1775, “Introduction to the Game of Back-Gammon; With the most approved Method of playing at it”, in Charles Jones, editor, Hoyle’s Games Improved. Being Practical Treatises on the following Fashionable Games, […], London: […] J. Rivington and J. Wilkie, […], page 170:

(archaic, dice games, card games, dominoes) A card, die, or domino with four spots or pips.


cinque

cinques (plural)
cinq (alternative archaic)
sinque (alternative obsolete)
sink (alternative)
sank (alternative)

→ Japanese: シンク (shinku)

PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English cink, from Middle French cinq, from Latin cīnque, variant of quīnque. The archaic spelling cinq is taken from modern French cinq, whereas the standard spelling is perhaps influenced by Italian cinque or a misspelling of the French. The variant pronunciation /sæŋk/ is based on Modern French. Doublet of fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, five, pimp (“five”), ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”); related to Pompeii.

doublet

(dice games, card games, dominoes) A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips.


natural

en-adj

natural (comparative more natural, superlative most natural)

more natural (comparative)
most natural (superlative)
naturall (alternative obsolete)
nat'ral (alternative)

/ˈnæt͡ʃ(ə)ɹəl/

From Middle English natural, borrowed from Old French natural, naturel, from Latin nātūrālis, from nātus, the perfect participle of nāscor (“be born”, verb). Displaced native Old English ġecynde. By surface analysis, nature + -al.

luonnollinen

that exists and evolved within the confines of an ecosystem

(dice games) Pertaining to a dice roll before bonuses or penalties have been applied to the result.


shackle

From shack (“variant of shake”), shake (verb) + -le (suffix forming agent nouns; frequentative suffix forming verbs).

affix

(dice games) A dice game; also, an event at which tickets are sold for chances to be drawn to win prizes; a raffle.


roll

en-verb

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

rolls (present singular third-person)
rolling (participle present)
rolled (participle past)
rolled (past)

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source.

rol

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

If you roll doubles, you get an extra turn.

With two dice, you're more likely to roll seven than ten.

(dice games, intransitive) To throw dice.

(dice games, transitive) To roll dice such that they form a given pattern or total.

I'm gonna go and roll a new shaman tonight.

(roleplaying games) To create a new character in a role-playing game, especially by using dice to determine properties.

(computing) To generate a random number.

To throw dice.
To generate a random number.


cater

caters (plural)
catre (alternative)
quatre (alternative)

From French quatre (“four”). Doublet of cuatro.

Cater is a very good caste.

1519, William Horman, Vulgaria, fol. 280v:

(card games, dice games, obsolete) The four of cards or dice.


craps

From Louisiana Creole craps, a corruption of English crabs.

“As an inventor,” Bob Mason suggested, “you're a howling success at shooting craps ! If I were as free of spavins, ringbone, saddle-galls, and splints as you are, I'd have that nanny-goat in here, hog-tie her, flop her and let the boy help himself. […]”

1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter XII, in The Understanding Heart:

Start off the dice-rollin' mats for craps to cee-lo / With side-bets, I roll a deuce, nothin' below

1994, “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”, in Illmatic, performed by Nas:

(gambling, dice games) A game of gambling, or chance, where the players throw dice to make scores and avoid crap.


knap

en-verb

knap (third-person singular simple present knaps, present participle knapping, simple past and past participle knapped)

knaps (present singular third-person)
knapping (participle present)
knapped (participle past)
knapped (past)
knap (infinitive)
knap (first-person present singular)
knapped (first-person past singular)
knap (present second-person singular)
knappest (archaic present second-person singular)
knapped (past second-person singular)
knappedst (archaic past second-person singular)
knaps (present singular third-person)
knappeth (archaic present singular third-person)
knapped (past singular third-person)
knap (plural present)
knapped (past plural)
knap (present subjunctive)
knapped (past subjunctive)
knap (imperative present)
knapping (participle present)
knapped (participle past)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English knappen (“to strike (something)”); further etymology uncertain, probably related to Middle Dutch knappen, cnappen (“to break (something) with a sharp sound, snap; to crack or crackle”) (modern Dutch knappen), probably ultimately onomatopoeic.
The noun is derived from Late Middle English knap, knappe (“sharp blow, strike”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from the verb (see above), or related to an ancestor of Danish knep and Swedish knäpp (“a flick, rap, snap”), probably ultimately onomatopoeic.

napauttaa

(transitive) to say (something) crisply or sharply; (intransitive) to speak crisply or sharply

(gambling, chiefly dice games, obsolete) To cheat while gambling, especially at a dice game.


knap

'Tis your pence a piece, / […] / Preſto begon? or come aloft? VVhat vvay? / Doublets? or Knap? The Cog? lovv Dice? or high?

a. 1659 (date written), John Cleveland, “The Publick Faith”, in The Works of Mr. John Cleveland, […], London: […] R. Holt, for Obadiah Blagrave, […], published 1687, →OCLC, page 200:

And fights vvith Money-bags as bold, / As men vvith Sand-bags did of old: / […] Engages blind and ſenſeleſs Hap / 'Gainſt High, and Lovv, and Slur and Knap, […]

a. 1681 (date written), Samuel Butler, “Satyr”, in R[obert] Thyer, editor, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 83, lines 45–46 and 51–52:

(figurative, gambling, chiefly dice games, obsolete) A method of cheating at a dice game.


loaded

en-adj

loaded (comparative more loaded, superlative most loaded)

more loaded (comparative)
most loaded (superlative)

подправен

(gaming, of dice, also used figuratively) biased

He was playing with loaded dice and won a fortune.

They played awhile to Corinius’s great content, for at every throw he won and the other’s purse waxed light. But at this eleventh stanza the son of Corund cried out that the dice of Corinius were loaded.

1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, pages 32–33:

The more we invest in a sexual encounter in a particular person, the more loaded the dice in a dating game that we are forever reminded we must play to win.

1996, Elaine Creith, Undressing Lesbian Sex, page 49:

If you add to this the fact that the magistrate and the police sergeant are close friends, then the dice could not have been more loaded against my client.

1997, Joe Slovo, Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography, page 80:

Horace has been crippled by being set off against the 'sincerity' and 'spontaneity' of these two; when it comes to the Greek lyricists, the dice are even more loaded against our poet, for the Greeks have not only spontaneity and sincerity on their side, but a phalanx of yet more formidable allies […].

2009, Michèle Lowrie, Horace: Odes and Epodes, page 224:

(dice games, also figurative) Of a die or dice: weighted asymmetrically, and so biased to produce predictable throws.


nat

After rolling a Strength check to move a heavy cabinet, I got a nat 1 and the cabinet fell on me.

in the Dark Sun campaign I'm playing in, the DM handles crits/fumbles this way: Natural 20: an excellent attack, player gets a bonus attack, if he gets another Nat. 20, he gets a 3rd attack, and so on.

1992 October 5, Jordan M. Wolbrum, “Critical Hits”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet):

Almost killed my cleric mage when she was juggling with another bard...missed the juggling check, rolled a nat 20 on the to-hit roll, and rolled maximum damage...and said cleric-mage was already wounded, and recuperating...8P

1995 September 21, Deanna Hatter, “How to roll d16 in level distribution?”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet):

But she continued. "I do a Survival check to see if there are any worm people in these puddles... and roll a nat twenty!"

2022, Shelly Mazzanoble, Welcome to Dragon Talk: Inspiring Conversations About Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Love to Play It, Iowa City, I.A.: University of Iowa Press, →ISBN, page 56:

(roleplaying games, dice games, slang) Clipping of natural (“pertaining to a dice roll before bonuses or penalties have been applied to the result”).


snake eyes

From the resemblance of the two single pips to the eyes of a snake.

Coordinate term: boxcars

It’s as if snake eyes, which should occur randomly only once every 36 times you roll a pair of dice, were coming up once every four times.

2021 June 29, Michael E. Mann, Susan Joy Hassol, “That Heat Dome? Yeah, It’s Climate Change.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(gambling, dice games, idiomatic) Two ones, after rolling two dice.


Nina

Borrowed into English in the nineteenth century, apparently from several sources. Many borrowings are of Russian Ни́на (Nína), the name of a Georgian saint in the fourth century, also known as Nino, of obscure origin and meaning, possibly connected with the Assyrian king Ninus. Others are of an Italian short form of diminutives like Annina from Anna and Giovannina from Giovanna.
Phonologically or orthographically similar names are present in several languages, including Afrikaans, Hindi, Italian, Persian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and some Native American languages. In many of those, it is a nickname for names ending in -ina or -nina.
(hidden message in crossword): After Nina Hirschfeld, the daughter of the American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; her name was often concealed in his drawings.

Nina from Pasadena
Nina from Pasadena#English

(gambling, dice games) Ellipsis of Nina from Pasadena


boxcars

From the resemblance of the six (“6”) on a die to a boxcar.

Coordinate term: snake eyes

(slang, dice games) Double six in a dice game with two dice.


trey

PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English treye, from Anglo-Norman trei or treis, from Old French treis (“three”). Doublet of three and tres.

(card games, dice games, dominoes) A score of three in cards, dice, or dominoes.


(dice games) A die roll used for example in some role-playing games and wargames to generate a random number between 1 and 1000. The most common method is to roll 3 differently colored d10s, where each color has been designated to represent one of the three digits.


reroll

en-verb

reroll (third-person singular simple present rerolls, present participle rerolling, simple past and past participle rerolled)

rerolls (present singular third-person)
rerolling (participle present)
rerolled (participle past)
rerolled (past)
re-roll (alternative)

A player who rolls two sixes can reroll the dice for an additional turn.

You can reroll if you don't like your character's initial stats.

[T]he others worked preparing breakfast and re-rolling swags.

1963, Arthur Upfield, The Lake Frome Monster, London: Pan Books, published 1969, page 21:

(ambitransitive, dice games) To roll (dice) again.


reroll

(dice games) A situation in the rules of certain dice games where a player is given the option to reroll an undesirable roll of the dice.


Yahtzee

→⇒ Dutch: yahtzeeën

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Yahtzee.wav

Milton Bradley Company
Yacht (dice game)
Yahtzee

Trademarked by the Milton Bradley Company in 1956, as an alteration of "Yatzie", derived from yacht (see Yacht (dice game)).

(dice games) A probability game where players amass scores depending on the values of the five dice they roll.


sice

sices (plural)
sise (alternative)
size (alternative)

→ Japanese: サイス (saisu)

From Middle English sice or sis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French sis, sies. Doublet of six.

In their common game, the most fortunate throw is thought to have been three Sices[…]

1680, Thomas Godwyn, Romanae historiae anthologia recognita et aucta, page 112:

(dice games, obsolete) The number six in a game of dice.


seven out

seven out (third-person singular simple present sevens out, present participle sevening out, simple past and past participle sevened out)

sevens out (present singular third-person)
sevening out (participle present)
sevened out (participle past)
sevened out (past)

"Why do you push it, Charlie?" he said. "At our age one short game is plenty. Do you see me playing more? One of these days you could seven out.[…]"

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 66:

If the shooter sevens out — rolls a 7 before the point — all the pass-line bets lose.

Casino Gambling for Dummies. Kevin Blackwood, Max (FRW) Rubin. page 136

(gambling, dice games) in the game of craps, to roll a seven after having established the "point".


sise

In the new casting of a die, when ace is on the top, sise must needs be at the bottom.

1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):


The d4 can be used to generate 25% incremental probabilities, random numbers from 1 to 4, with +1 it generates a linear 2-5, etc.

1979, Gary Gygax, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide, Lake Geneva, WI: TSR Games, page 10:


(dice games) A die with ten sides, most often with sides numbered 0 to 9.


(dice games) A die roll used for example in some role-playing games and wargames to generate a random number between 1 and 100. The most common method is to roll 2 differently colored d10s, where each color has been designated to represent one of the two digits. (Rolls of 10 are treated as the digit 0. Double-0 can be treated as zero or 100, depending on the context.)


little Dick Fisher

(gambling, dice games, slang) A score of four in the game of craps.


pass-dice

The game was pass-dice. A young stranger held the dice, and had already won four times […].

1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 25:

(obsolete, dice games) The game of passage.


Little Joe

Little Joe and big Dick from Boston have been hitting fine. I got enough for baby's new shoes and a Caddy too.

2003, Scott Cool, Dick Schmelzkopf, Gambler's Book of Poetry, page 12:

(gambling, dice games) The point of four in the game of craps.


Little Joe from Kokomo

(gambling, dice games) Synonym of Little Joe (“the point of four in the game of craps”).


big Dick from Boston

Mother grimaced when he spat on the dice and exclaimed about Big Dick from Boston and eight the hard way.

(gambling, dice games) A roll of ten in the game of craps.


Nina from Pasadena

Shaking the dice in his hand, he chanted: “Nina from Pasadena, pull your tits. Be there seven.” With a bit of wrist-flourish he chucked the dice. They cartwheeled a few times, skidded, and then petered out with two ones up.

1971, Joseph N. Sorrentino, Up from Never, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, →ISBN, page 96:

The most reliable stickman on the floor, Jimmy McGuire, was running the table. Data could hear his silky tenor before he could see the player due to the dense ring of spectators around the pit. “On your bets, place your bets. […] And that is nine. Nina from Pasadena. Point is nine. How about the six and eight there, sir? It's never too late. Two numbers are better than one.”

2014, Jeffrey Lang, The Light Fantastic (Star Trek: The Next Generation), New York, NY: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 68:

(gambling, dice games) A roll of nine in the game of craps.


big Dick

Big Dick is a tough point to make, and if you want to, you can bet some more money at two-to-one odds that you'll make it.

1952, Collier's: Incorporating Features of the American Magazine, page 45:

big Dick from Boston
big Dick from Boston#English

(gambling, dice games) Synonym of big Dick from Boston