roulette

A game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered (usually red and black) spaces. When the ball stops, it indicates the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game.uncountable

An instance of risk-taking, especially when the downside exceeds the upside (contrary to the game of roulette where only the wager is lost).figurativelyuncountable

• By contrast giving treatments open-label slows everything down by leading us up blind alleys while playing roulette with our patients' lives.

A small toothed wheel used by engravers to roll over a plate in order to produce rows of dots.countable

A similar wheel used to roughen the surface of a plate, as in making alterations in a mezzotint.countable

The locus of a point on a plane curve that rolls without slipping along another fixed plane curve.countable

Any of the small incisions on a sheet of stamps, used as an alternative to perforations.countableuncountable

A cylindrical curler for the hair.countableuncountable

To separate or decorate by incisions made with a small toothed wheel.

• to roulette a sheet of postage stamps