Definition of "gamble" []

• To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest. (verb-intransitive)
• To play a game of chance for stakes. (verb-intransitive)
• To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit. (verb-intransitive)
• To engage in reckless or hazardous behavior: You are gambling with your health by continuing to smoke. (verb-intransitive)
• To put up as a stake in gambling; wager. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Current bank directors also battled with the FSA over the use of the word "gamble" to describe RBS's purchase of Dutch bank ABN Amro Holding NV just as the credit crunch was taking hold."
• "However, I use the word 'gamble' because, in general terms, PBR is a big company game played by cash rich suppliers."
• "As the bombardment of Gaza has failed to break Palestinian "will," now the gamble is that ground troops will."